Brighton Jones LLC Invests $209,000 in Penske Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:PAG)

Brighton Jones LLC bought a new stake in Penske Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:PAG) in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 1,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $209,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Gabelli Funds LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Penske Automotive Group by 6.2% in the first quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 85,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,850,000 after acquiring an additional 5,000 shares during the period. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System increased its stake in Penske Automotive Group by 15.4% in the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 30,466 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,935,000 after purchasing an additional 4,057 shares during the period. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Penske Automotive Group in the second quarter valued at about $1,516,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Penske Automotive Group during the second quarter worth about $3,742,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Penske Automotive Group by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,036,010 shares of the company’s stock worth $326,800,000 after buying an additional 5,399 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.08% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PAG has been the subject of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised Penske Automotive Group from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $115.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Bank of America increased their price target on Penske Automotive Group from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Stephens started coverage on shares of Penske Automotive Group in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $161.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Penske Automotive Group from $140.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Penske Automotive Group

In other news, Director John Barr sold 716 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.71, for a total transaction of $122,228.36. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 51.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Penske Automotive Group Stock Down 1.1 %

PAG opened at $152.26 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.22. Penske Automotive Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $140.70 and a 12 month high of $179.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.21 and a beta of 1.16. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $159.21 and a 200-day simple moving average of $155.70.

Penske Automotive Group (NYSE:PAG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $3.61 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.39 by $0.22. Penske Automotive Group had a return on equity of 19.82% and a net margin of 3.05%. The company had revenue of $7.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.59 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $4.41 earnings per share. Penske Automotive Group’s quarterly revenue was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Penske Automotive Group, Inc. will post 13.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Penske Automotive Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a dividend of $1.19 per share. This is a positive change from Penske Automotive Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.07. This represents a $4.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.13%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. Penske Automotive Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.52%.

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.