Gibraltar Capital Management Inc. Invests $653,000 in LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ)

Gibraltar Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 13,670 shares of the auto parts company’s stock, valued at approximately $653,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of LKQ in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. CVA Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in shares of LKQ during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Private Trust Co. NA increased its position in shares of LKQ by 228.4% in the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 647 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the period. NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new position in LKQ in the third quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Headinvest LLC bought a new stake in LKQ during the third quarter worth about $34,000. 95.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of LKQ in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on LKQ from $58.00 to $54.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. StockNews.com lowered LKQ from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and set a $66.00 price objective on shares of LKQ in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on LKQ from $65.00 to $63.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $61.60.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Dominick P. Zarcone sold 200,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.97, for a total transaction of $10,394,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 386,522 shares in the company, valued at $20,087,548.34. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.45% of the company’s stock.

LKQ Trading Down 1.4 %

LKQ stock traded down $0.63 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $43.13. The stock had a trading volume of 2,766,333 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,722,917. The stock has a market cap of $11.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.00 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $50.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $48.09. LKQ Co. has a one year low of $41.30 and a one year high of $59.38.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The auto parts company reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.95 by ($0.13). LKQ had a return on equity of 15.94% and a net margin of 5.79%. The business had revenue of $3.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.76 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.04 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that LKQ Co. will post 3.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LKQ Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.78%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. LKQ’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.96%.

LKQ 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.