Caption Management LLC Takes Position in LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ)

Caption Management LLC bought a new stake in LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 50,000 shares of the auto parts company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,838,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cromwell Holdings LLC increased its holdings in LKQ by 81.0% during the 4th quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 742 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co grew its position in LKQ by 618.0% in the 4th quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 1,673 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 1,440 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in LKQ in the 3rd quarter valued at about $81,000. Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in shares of LKQ by 107.8% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,099 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $82,000 after buying an additional 1,089 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of LKQ by 24.4% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,815 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $112,000 after acquiring an additional 553 shares in the last quarter. 95.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on LKQ. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on LKQ from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of LKQ in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of LKQ from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, LKQ presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $52.60.

LKQ Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of LKQ stock opened at $39.39 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 1.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.03 and a beta of 0.98. LKQ Co. has a 52-week low of $35.56 and a 52-week high of $46.64. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $41.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $39.15.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The auto parts company reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.79. LKQ had a net margin of 4.81% and a return on equity of 14.93%. The company had revenue of $3.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.58 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.82 EPS. LKQ’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate 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, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. LKQ’s payout ratio is presently 44.78%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Dominick P. Zarcone sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.32, for a total transaction of $634,800.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 336,135 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,225,233.20. This represents a 4.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Justin L. Jude purchased 2,708 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 25th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $36.99 per share, with a total value of $100,168.92. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 280,777 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,385,941.23. This trade represents a 0.97 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 45,000 shares of company stock worth $1,873,750 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

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.