Barrington Research Weighs in on LKQ Co.’s Q1 2024 Earnings (NASDAQ:LKQ)

LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) – Stock analysts at Barrington Research dropped their Q1 2024 earnings estimates for LKQ in a research note issued on Tuesday, March 26th. Barrington Research analyst G. Prestopino now expects that the auto parts company will post earnings per share of $0.95 for the quarter, down from their prior forecast of $0.98. Barrington Research currently has a “Outperform” rating and a $60.00 target price on the stock. The consensus estimate for LKQ’s current full-year earnings is $4.06 per share. Barrington Research also issued estimates for LKQ’s Q3 2024 earnings at $1.05 EPS.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The auto parts company reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.08. LKQ had a net margin of 6.75% and a return on equity of 17.24%. The company had revenue of $3.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.52 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.78 EPS. LKQ’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on LKQ. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of LKQ from $65.00 to $63.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. StockNews.com cut shares of LKQ from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, LKQ has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $63.50.

LKQ Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of LKQ opened at $53.15 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $50.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $48.23. LKQ has a 52 week low of $41.49 and a 52 week high of $59.38. The firm has a market cap of $14.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.19 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 1.47.

LKQ Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 14th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 13th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.26%. LKQ’s payout ratio is 34.29%.

Insider Activity at LKQ

In other LKQ news, CEO Dominick P. Zarcone sold 200,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.97, for a total transaction of $10,394,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 386,522 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,087,548.34. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.55% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of LKQ

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in LKQ. Cadence Bank increased its holdings in shares of LKQ by 2.0% during the second quarter. Cadence Bank now owns 11,204 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $653,000 after acquiring an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. increased its stake in shares of LKQ by 40.8% in the 4th quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 777 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC raised its holdings in LKQ by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 5,433 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $308,000 after buying an additional 233 shares during the period. Studio Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in LKQ by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC now owns 9,977 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $533,000 after buying an additional 235 shares during the period. Finally, Jacobi Capital Management LLC grew its position in LKQ by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 17,470 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $865,000 after acquiring an additional 239 shares in the last quarter. 95.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

LKQ Company Profile

LKQ Corporation engages in the distribution of replacement parts, components, and systems used in the repair and maintenance of vehicles and specialty vehicle aftermarket products and accessories. It operates through four segments: Wholesale-North America, Europe, Specialty, and Self Service. The company distributes bumper covers, automotive body panels, and lights, as well as mechanical automotive parts and accessories; salvage products, including mechanical and collision parts comprising engines; transmissions; door assemblies; sheet metal products, such as trunk lids, fenders, and hoods; lights and bumper assemblies; scrap metal and other materials to metals recyclers; and brake pads, discs and sensors, clutches, steering and suspension products, filters, and oil and automotive fluids, as well as electrical products, including spark plugs and batteries.