On May 1, 2023, auto parts company LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) released its Q1 earnings report, revealing $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter. This amount exceeded analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by an impressive $0.08, as reported by Briefing.com.
With a revenue of $3.30 billion during Q1, LKQ surpassed analyst estimates of $3.26 billion. Additionally, the firm saw a return on equity of 19.31% and a net margin of 8.98%. In comparison to the same quarter last year, the company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.4%, and LKQ previously posted $1.00 earnings per share during that period.
In anticipation of future success, LKQ updated its FY23 guidance to reflect a higher target range for EPS ($3.90-$4.20).
Furthermore, LKQ announced that shareholders of record on May 18 will receive a dividend of $0.275 per share on June 1; this amounts to an annualized dividend payout of $1.10 and a dividend yield of 1.92%. The ex-dividend date is scheduled for May 17th.
On Friday, May 2nd shares were trading down by $0.03 at midday trading at $57.23; the company had a trading volume of 313,330 shares compared to an average volume of 1,533,099 shares over time periods.
Over recent months institutional investors have been making moves involving LKQ stocks: Rockefeller Capital Management L.P., Macquarie Group Ltd., Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co., Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC,and GHP Investment Advisors Inc.; most increased their stakes in shares.
LKQ has a market cap currently sitting at around $15 billion; the company has a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.93 and a beta of 1.36. Additionally, the firm’s current ratio is 1.87, its quick ratio is 0.66, while its debt-to-equity ratio is 0.48.
Overall, LKQ appears to be in a solid position moving forward, as indicated by both their impressive earnings report and developing investment trends.
Institutional investors drive growth in the booming auto parts industry
The auto parts industry has been undergoing continuous growth in recent years, with a number of institutional investors and hedge funds investing in the market. Companies such as LKQ have seen significant increases in their stake holdings over the past few quarters.
Rockefeller Capital Management L.P., for example, recently raised its holdings by 59.7% during the fourth quarter of the fiscal year. The firm now owns over 2,200 shares of LKQ’s stock valued at approximately $119,000. Similarly, Macquarie Group Ltd. has lifted its stake in the company by 9.6%, owning nearly 20,000 shares worth $1 million.
Furthermore, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management experienced a sizeable surge of 395.1% growth in its position during the fourth quarter to achieve a total value of $1.5 million from an additional acquisition
Meanwhile, Linden Thomas Advisory Services added to LKQ’s already considerable list of sharholders during the same period; acquiring new position valued at approximately $448k.
Insider trading became apparent with Director Holdings L.P Valueact recently selling 450k shares of LKQ’s stock; sold at an average price point of nearly $58 per share – resulting in a transaction worth northwards of $26 million dollars.
However it should be noted that despite numerous changes in holdings within this industry giant many analysts are still recommending potential buyers remain bullish on the stock: Raymond James boosted target prices from $60 to $65 and five analysts have rated the stock with a “Buy” rating while giving it an average consensus price target was set at around $67 per share judged on data obtained from Bloomberg, reaffirming faith for future prospects amongst industry professionals within this space.
