New South Capital Management Inc. Lowers Stake in LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ)

New South Capital Management Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) by 21.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,186,785 shares of the auto parts company’s stock after selling 324,610 shares during the quarter. LKQ accounts for about 1.8% of New South Capital Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding. New South Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in LKQ were worth $43,614,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in LKQ. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of LKQ during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Cromwell Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of LKQ by 81.0% during the 4th quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 742 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 332 shares during the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA grew its holdings in shares of LKQ by 31.2% during the 3rd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 1,256 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 299 shares during the last quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new position in shares of LKQ during the 3rd quarter valued at $57,000. Finally, CENTRAL TRUST Co grew its holdings in shares of LKQ by 618.0% during the 4th quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 1,673 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 1,440 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.63% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Dominick P. Zarcone sold 5,000 shares of LKQ stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.84, for a total transaction of $184,200.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 374,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,795,180.08. The trade was a 1.32 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 35,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,416,300. Corporate insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on LKQ shares. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of LKQ in a report on Thursday, February 20th. StockNews.com lowered shares of LKQ from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of LKQ from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $52.60.

LKQ Price Performance

Shares of LKQ stock opened at $42.05 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $10.90 billion, a PE ratio of 16.05 and a beta of 1.29. LKQ Co. has a 12-month low of $35.56 and a 12-month high of $53.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $38.34 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $38.88.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The auto parts company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $3.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.42 billion. LKQ had a net margin of 4.81% and a return on equity of 14.93%. As a group, equities analysts expect that LKQ Co. will post 3.57 EPS for the current year.

LKQ Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 13th. LKQ’s payout ratio is 45.80%.

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.