Vanguard Group Inc. Sells 11,346 Shares of Penske Automotive Group, Inc. $PAG

Key Points

• Vanguard trimmed its position in Penske Automotive Group by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, selling 11,346 shares and leaving it with 1,698,133 shares valued at about $268.8 million.
• Wall Street remains cautiously positive on PAG, with six Buy ratings and three Hold ratings, a consensus “Moderate Buy,” and an average price target of $184.86.
• Penske posted better-than-expected quarterly results, earning $3.05 per share versus $2.91 expected and generating $7.86 billion in revenue, while also raising its quarterly dividend to $1.40 per share.

Vanguard Group Inc. reduced its stake in Penske Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:PAG - Free Report) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,698,133 shares of the company's stock after selling 11,346 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 2.58% of Penske Automotive Group worth $268,797,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in PAG. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Penske Automotive Group by 48.9% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,391,281 shares of the company's stock valued at $241,958,000 after buying an additional 456,611 shares during the period. Hamlin Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Penske Automotive Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $20,203,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Penske Automotive Group by 21.1% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 681,741 shares of the company's stock valued at $116,953,000 after buying an additional 118,976 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Penske Automotive Group by 28.4% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 380,267 shares of the company's stock valued at $54,751,000 after buying an additional 84,045 shares during the period. Finally, M&T Bank Corp increased its stake in shares of Penske Automotive Group by 3,302.9% during the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 64,995 shares of the company's stock valued at $10,288,000 after buying an additional 63,085 shares during the period. 77.08% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PAG has been the topic of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Penske Automotive Group from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday. Weiss Ratings cut Penske Automotive Group from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $190.00 target price on shares of Penske Automotive Group in a report on Thursday. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Penske Automotive Group from $195.00 to $190.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, Stephens lifted their price objective on Penske Automotive Group from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $184.86.

Penske Automotive Group Stock Performance

NYSE:PAG opened at $173.80 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Penske Automotive Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $140.12 and a 12-month high of $189.51. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $154.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $160.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.90.

Penske Automotive Group (NYSE:PAG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $3.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.91 by $0.14. Penske Automotive Group had a return on equity of 15.13% and a net margin of 2.85%.The firm had revenue of $7.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.66 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Penske Automotive Group, Inc. will post 13.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Penske Automotive Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 5th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 25th were given a dividend of $1.40 per share. This is an increase from Penske Automotive Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.38. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 25th. Penske Automotive Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.79%.

Penske Automotive Group Company Profile

Penske Automotive Group, Inc NYSE: PAG, headquartered in Bloomfield Township, Michigan, is an international transportation services company primarily focused on automotive and commercial truck dealerships. The company retails new and pre-owned vehicles across a broad spectrum of brands, while offering parts, maintenance, collision repair and reconditioning services. In addition, Penske provides financing and insurance products through its integrated finance and insurance operations, supporting both retail customers and commercial clients.

Formed in 1990 as United Auto Group and publicly traded since 1999, Penske Automotive Group has grown through organic expansion and strategic acquisitions to establish a network of dealerships and service centers across the United States and Europe.

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