KMX vs LAD vs PAG Stock Comparison

Carmax, Lithia Motors and Penske Automotive Prices as of Nov 4, 2026 Peers: Industry group
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KMX Carmax Inc
$55.14 +0.5% 1M +35.3% 1Y
Market cap
$7.83B
P/E
26.8x
Revenue (TTM)
$27.63B
Div. yield
–
Auto Dealerships Consumer Discretionary
2 wins
LAD Lithia Motors Inc
$315.38 +4.1% 1M +5.9% 1Y
Market cap
$6.84B
P/E
8.8x
Revenue (TTM)
$38.21B
Div. yield
0.75%
Auto Dealerships Consumer Discretionary
2 wins

Head to Head

12 decided of 12

Penske Automotive leads on 8 of the 12 questions below (Penske Automotive 8, Lithia Motors 2, Carmax 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionKMXLADPAGLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $7.83B $6.84B $13.94B PAG
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 26.8x 8.8x 15.5x LAD
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 18.0x 9.3x 17.1x LAD
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +4.8% +1.6% +1.4% KMX
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 1.1% 2.1% 2.8% PAG
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 1.1% 6.3% 8.0% PAG
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 20.4x 6.0x 3.5x PAG
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield — 0.75% 2.66% PAG
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +35.3% +5.9% +35.6% PAG
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -18.7%/yr -0.8%/yr +13.7%/yr PAG
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 55.0% 41.8% 27.4% PAG
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 48/100 43/100 39/100 KMX

Percentile Scorecard

KMXLADPAG

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisKMXLADPAG
Valuation 67 #36 of 107 54 #50 of 107 50 #54 of 107
Growth 42 #60 of 103 31 #71 of 103 15 #88 of 103
Profitability 34 #68 of 102 37 #65 of 102 51 #51 of 102
Financial Health 21 #90 of 113 21 #89 of 113 25 #85 of 113
Shareholder Returns 76 #19 of 76 72 #22 of 76 53 #36 of 76
Overall 48 43 39
  • KMX ranked among 115 companies in Retail
  • LAD ranked among 115 companies in Retail
  • PAG ranked among 115 companies in Retail

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodKMXLADPAGSPY
1 month +0.5%+4.1%+5.8% -1.0%
3 months -2.7%-14.3%-1.5% -0.4%
6 months +39.8%+9.0%+25.1% +4.5%
Year to date +42.7%-5.1%+34.2% +12.4%
1 year +35.3%+5.9%+35.6% +13.6%
3 years -17.7%+18.5%+36.0% +76.4%
3 years, per year -6.3%+5.8%+10.8% +20.8%
5 years -64.4%-3.9%+89.8% +63.7%
5 years, per year -18.7%-0.8%+13.7% +10.4%
10 years +9.2%+298.5%+390.8% +267.7%
10 years, per year +0.9%+14.8%+17.2% +13.9%

Risk

MeasureKMXLADPAGSPY
Volatility, 1Y 55.0%41.8%27.4% 12.8%
Downside volatility, 1Y 65.9%40.2%22.3% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.210.500.54 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.640.141.30 1.06
Max drawdown, 5Y -80.1%-47.1%-25.3% -25.4%
From 52-week high -14.1%-26.2%-5.2% -1.6%
52-week high $64.22$427.48$223.90 $779.14
52-week low $30.88$243.00$140.60 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleKMXLADPAG
P/E now vs peer median 26.8xmedian 18.4x 8.8xmedian 18.4x 15.5xmedian 18.4x
P/S now vs peer median 0.3xmedian 0.5x 0.2xmedian 0.5x 0.4xmedian 0.5x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 30.6xmedian 9.6x 9.6xmedian 9.6x 13.6xmedian 9.6x
P/FCF now vs peer median 6.8xmedian 16.4x -16.0xmedian 16.4x 28.0xmedian 16.4x
P/B now vs peer median 1.2xmedian 1.8x 1.0xmedian 1.8x 2.3xmedian 1.8x
PEG now vs peer median -2.59median 0.83 -5.84median 0.83 -2.11median 0.83

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsKMXLADPAG
Revenue $27.63B $38.21B $32.56B
Gross profit $2.85B $5.79B $5.22B
Operating income $392.76M $1.55B $1.20B
Net income $292.45M $794.40M $904.00M
Free cash flow $1.15B -$426.70M $497.90M
EPS (diluted) $2.05 $35.84 $13.73
Cash & equivalents $170.53M $374.00M $68.30M
Total debt $15.71B $11.75B $4.97B
Shares (diluted) 142.45M 22.00M 65.70M
Enterprise value $7.20B $5.37B $13.68B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricKMXLADPAG
P/E 26.8x 8.8x 15.5x
P/FCF 6.8x -16.0x 28.0x
P/Operating cash flow 4.9x -84.3x 17.4x
P/S 0.3x 0.2x 0.4x
P/B 1.2x 1.0x 2.3x
P/Tangible book 1.2x 1.8x 3.0x
EV/EBITDA 30.6x 9.6x 13.6x
EV/EBIT 59.5x 11.8x 15.6x
EV/Revenue 0.8x 0.5x 0.6x
EV/FCF 20.4x -42.7x 37.8x
EV/Operating cash flow 14.6x -224.4x 23.5x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -2.59 -5.84 -2.11

Growth

14 metrics
MetricKMXLADPAG
Revenue growth (1Y) 4.8% 1.6% 1.4%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 0.8% 8.0% 3.6%
Gross profit growth (1Y) -3.6% 0.9% -1.2%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 1.8% 3.8% 2.0%
Operating income growth (1Y) -23.0% -7.2% -13.5%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 0.1% -3.5% -5.4%
Net income growth (1Y) -43.9% -11.9% -9.7%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -13.6% -8.7% -8.1%
EPS growth (1Y) -41.0% 0.9% -9.2%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -10.3% -1.5% -7.3%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 32.4% -127.5% -31.5%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 29.1% 33.0% -14.3%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 67.3% -906.4% -40.6%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 53.9% 6.8% -18.3%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricKMXLADPAG
Gross margin 10.3% 15.1% 16.0%
EBITDA margin 2.8% 5.0% 4.3%
Operating margin 1.4% 4.0% 3.7%
Pretax margin 1.6% 2.8% 3.8%
Net margin 1.1% 2.1% 2.8%
FCF margin 4.1% -1.1% 1.5%
Operating cash flow margin 5.8% -0.2% 2.5%
Return on equity 4.7% 12.2% 15.3%
Return on assets 1.1% 3.0% 4.9%
Return on invested capital 1.1% 6.3% 8.0%
Return on capital employed 1.6% 8.5% 10.1%
Asset turnover 1.0x 1.4x 1.8x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 5.5x -0.1x 0.9x
Stock comp / revenue 0.4% 0.1% 0.1%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricKMXLADPAG
Debt / assets 60.3% 43.8% 27.0%
Debt / equity 2.5x 1.8x 0.8x
Net debt / EBITDA 20.4x 6.0x 3.5x
Debt / FCF 13.7x -27.5x 10.0x
Liabilities / assets 75.8% 75.3% 67.6%
Equity / assets 24.2% 24.7% 32.4%
Interest coverage 3.3x 7.2x –
Current ratio 2.3x 1.0x 1.0x
Quick ratio 0.2x 0.2x 0.2x
Cash ratio 0.1x 0.0x 0.0x
Altman Z-score 1.72 2.16 3.11

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricKMXLADPAG
Dividend yield – 0.8% 2.7%
Net buyback yield 3.3% 13.1% 0.5%
Shareholder yield 3.3% 13.8% 3.1%
Payout ratio (earnings) – – 41.2%
Payout ratio (FCF) – – 74.7%
Dividend growth (1Y) – – 11.9%
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – 28.3%

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusKMXLADPAG
Forward P/E 18.0xFY2026 9.3xFY2026 17.1xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $3.06FY2026 $34.04FY2026 $12.45FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +5.2%FY2026 +1.7%FY2026 -6.6%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +21.2% +15.7% +18.0%
Revenue, next fiscal year $29.97BFY2026 $37.52BFY2026 $34.43BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +15.8%FY2026 -0.3%FY2026 +8.2%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +0.4% +8.1% -9.1%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersKMXLADPAG
Held by institutions 100.0% 100.0% 27.8%
Institutions holding 559 445 395
Change in shares held, QoQ -2.9% +0.2% +4.0%
Institutions buying 233 223 210
Institutions selling 251 160 105
Buyers to sellers 0.93 1.39 2.00

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

KMXLADPAG
KMX 1.00 0.43 0.36
LAD 0.43 1.00 0.55
PAG 0.36 0.55 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, KMX, LAD and PAG?

Penske Automotive (PAG) is the largest by market capitalisation: Carmax (KMX) $7.83B, Lithia Motors (LAD) $6.84B, Penske Automotive (PAG) $13.94B.

Which stock is cheaper, KMX, LAD and PAG?

Lithia Motors (LAD) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Carmax (KMX) 26.8x, Lithia Motors (LAD) 8.8x, Penske Automotive (PAG) 15.5x). On next year's consensus earnings, Lithia Motors (LAD) is cheapest (Carmax (KMX) 18.0x, Lithia Motors (LAD) 9.3x, Penske Automotive (PAG) 17.1x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Carmax (KMX) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Carmax (KMX) +4.8%, Lithia Motors (LAD) +1.6%, Penske Automotive (PAG) +1.4%.

Which company is more profitable?

Penske Automotive (PAG) has the highest net margin (Carmax (KMX) 1.1%, Lithia Motors (LAD) 2.1%, Penske Automotive (PAG) 2.8%). On return on invested capital, Penske Automotive (PAG) leads (Carmax (KMX) 1.1%, Lithia Motors (LAD) 6.3%, Penske Automotive (PAG) 8.0%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Penske Automotive (PAG) returned the most: Carmax (KMX) +35.3%, Lithia Motors (LAD) +5.9%, Penske Automotive (PAG) +35.6%. Over five years, Penske Automotive (PAG) compounded fastest (Carmax (KMX) -18.7%/yr, Lithia Motors (LAD) -0.8%/yr, Penske Automotive (PAG) +13.7%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Penske Automotive (PAG) has the highest dividend yield: Lithia Motors (LAD) 0.75%, Penske Automotive (PAG) 2.66%. Carmax (KMX) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Penske Automotive (PAG) has been the steadiest (Carmax (KMX) 55.0%, Lithia Motors (LAD) 41.8%, Penske Automotive (PAG) 27.4%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, KMX, LAD and PAG?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Penske Automotive (PAG) leads on 8. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.