Penske Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:PAG) Receives $168.20 Consensus PT from Brokerages

Penske Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:PAG) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the five research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has assigned a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $163.20.

PAG has been the topic of several analyst reports. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Penske Automotive Group from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Penske Automotive Group from $107.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th.

Penske Automotive Group Stock Performance

NYSE PAG opened at $149.97 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $153.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $153.46. The stock has a market cap of $10.06 billion, a PE ratio of 9.69 and a beta of 1.19. Penske Automotive Group has a fifty-two week low of $133.72 and a fifty-two week high of $180.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 1.00.

Penske Automotive Group (NYSE:PAG) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The company reported $3.45 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.66 by ($0.21). The company had revenue of $7.27 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.18 billion. Penske Automotive Group had a return on equity of 24.19% and a net margin of 3.57%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.21 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Penske Automotive Group will post 13.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Penske Automotive Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, February 15th were issued a $0.87 dividend. This is a positive change from Penske Automotive Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.79. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 14th. This represents a $3.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.32%. Penske Automotive Group’s payout ratio is presently 22.48%.

Insider Activity at Penske Automotive Group

In related news, Director John Barr sold 1,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.05, for a total value of $246,480.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 716 shares in the company, valued at $110,299.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, Director Greg C. Smith sold 1,604 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.38, for a total transaction of $239,605.52. Following the transaction, the director now owns 51,001 shares in the company, valued at $7,618,529.38. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John Barr sold 1,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.05, for a total transaction of $246,480.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 716 shares in the company, valued at approximately $110,299.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 51.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Penske Automotive Group

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Penske Automotive Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $260,702,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Penske Automotive Group by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,036,010 shares of the company’s stock valued at $326,800,000 after buying an additional 5,399 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. increased its stake in Penske Automotive Group by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 1,404,836 shares of the company’s stock valued at $138,279,000 after buying an additional 61,972 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in Penske Automotive Group by 24.7% in the 2nd quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 827,445 shares of the company’s stock valued at $86,625,000 after buying an additional 164,060 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. increased its stake in Penske Automotive Group by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. now owns 755,463 shares of the company’s stock valued at $121,259,000 after buying an additional 27,055 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 77.08% of the company’s stock.

About Penske Automotive Group

Penske Automotive Group, Inc, a diversified transportation services company, operates automotive and commercial truck dealerships worldwide. The company operates through four segments: Retail Automotive, Retail Commercial Truck, Other, and Non-Automotive Investments. It operates dealerships under franchise agreements with various automotive manufacturers and distributors.