Values First Advisors Inc. Sells 198 Shares of Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD)

Values First Advisors Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Lithia Motors, Inc. (NYSE:LAD) by 8.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,092 shares of the company’s stock after selling 198 shares during the quarter. Values First Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Lithia Motors were worth $748,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Essex Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Lithia Motors in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $211,000. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new position in Lithia Motors during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $247,000. Tectonic Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Lithia Motors in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $352,000. Trust Point Inc. bought a new position in shares of Lithia Motors in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $217,000. Finally, Financial Strategies Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Lithia Motors by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Financial Strategies Group Inc. now owns 1,704 shares of the company’s stock worth $582,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LAD has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Lithia Motors from $405.00 to $400.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on Lithia Motors from $380.00 to $418.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Benchmark initiated coverage on Lithia Motors in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $400.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com raised Lithia Motors from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Lithia Motors from $343.00 to $346.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $357.40.

Lithia Motors Price Performance

Shares of LAD stock opened at $385.63 on Thursday. Lithia Motors, Inc. has a 12 month low of $243.00 and a 12 month high of $405.67. The company has a market capitalization of $10.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.16, a P/E/G ratio of 4.90 and a beta of 1.67. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $363.18 and a two-hundred day moving average of $333.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23.

Lithia Motors (NYSE:LAD) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $7.79 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.33 by $0.46. Lithia Motors had a return on equity of 12.95% and a net margin of 2.31%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Lithia Motors, Inc. will post 29.23 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Lithia Motors

In other Lithia Motors news, CFO Tina Miller sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $392.72, for a total value of $392,720.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 10,403 shares in the company, valued at $4,085,466.16. This represents a 8.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Gary M. Glandon sold 242 shares of Lithia Motors stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $382.86, for a total value of $92,652.12. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,729 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $661,964.94. The trade was a 12.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 19,611 shares of company stock valued at $7,716,702. Company insiders own 1.79% of the company’s stock.

Lithia Motors Company Profile

Lithia Motors, Inc operates as an automotive retailer worldwide. It operates in two segments, Vehicle Operations and Financing Operations. The company’s Vehicle Operations segment sells new and used vehicles; provides parts, repair, and maintenance services; vehicle finance; and insurance products. Its Financing Operations segment provides financing to customers buying and leasing retail vehicles.