Penske Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:PAG) Stock Rated “Moderate Buy” by Wall Street Analysts

Penske Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:PAG) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the ten ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $211.14.

Several research firms have recently weighed in on PAG. Bank of America increased their price target on Penske Automotive Group from $200.00 to $238.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. UBS Group set a $190.00 price objective on Penske Automotive Group in a research note on Friday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Penske Automotive Group from $170.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Stephens increased their target price on shares of Penske Automotive Group from $166.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Benchmark lowered shares of Penske Automotive Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd.

Penske Automotive Group Price Performance

Penske Automotive Group stock opened at $209.74 on Wednesday. Penske Automotive Group has a 12 month low of $140.12 and a 12 month high of $227.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $215.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $183.99. The company has a market cap of $13.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.44 and a beta of 0.84.

Penske Automotive Group (NYSE:PAG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $3.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.42 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $8.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.98 billion. Penske Automotive Group had a return on equity of 14.78% and a net margin of 2.81%.Penske Automotive Group’s revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.78 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Penske Automotive Group will post 13.66 EPS for the current year.

Penske Automotive Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th were paid a dividend of $1.44 per share. This represents a $5.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 14th. This is an increase from Penske Automotive Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. Penske Automotive Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.42%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Kendall Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Penske Automotive Group during the second quarter worth $1,303,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in shares of Penske Automotive Group in the second quarter valued at $79,065,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Penske Automotive Group in the fourth quarter valued at $3,679,000. Tidal Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Penske Automotive Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $954,000. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its stake in shares of Penske Automotive Group by 15.6% during the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 81,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,186,000 after purchasing an additional 11,000 shares during the period. 77.08% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Penske Automotive Group

Penske Automotive Group, Inc (NYSE:PAG) is a diversified international transportation services company that operates automotive and commercial vehicle dealerships, as well as businesses serving the truck leasing and transportation industries. Its automotive retail operations sell new and used vehicles from a broad range of manufacturers and provide related services, including vehicle financing and insurance products, parts, maintenance and repair.

The company operates automotive dealerships in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Germany and Italy.