Claude H. Denker III Sells 8,746 Shares of Penske Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:PAG) Stock

Penske Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:PAG) EVP Claude H. Denker III sold 8,746 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.03, for a total transaction of $1,513,320.38. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 28,917 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,003,508.51. The trade was a 23.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Penske Automotive Group Stock Performance

NYSE PAG opened at $168.12 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.20. Penske Automotive Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $142.32 and a 1 year high of $180.12. The company has a market capitalization of $11.23 billion, a PE ratio of 12.23 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a fifty day moving average of $161.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of $160.51.

Penske Automotive Group (NYSE:PAG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $3.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.37 by $0.17. Penske Automotive Group had a net margin of 3.02% and a return on equity of 18.05%. The company had revenue of $7.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.56 billion. As a group, analysts expect that Penske Automotive Group, Inc. will post 13.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Penske Automotive Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th will be paid a dividend of $1.22 per share. This is an increase from Penske Automotive Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 24th. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.90%. Penske Automotive Group’s dividend payout ratio is 34.62%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Penske Automotive Group

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Penske Automotive Group by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,999,191 shares of the company’s stock worth $304,757,000 after buying an additional 12,912 shares during the period. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Penske Automotive Group by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. now owns 806,860 shares of the company’s stock worth $122,998,000 after buying an additional 13,106 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Penske Automotive Group by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 606,709 shares of the company’s stock worth $92,487,000 after buying an additional 20,506 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of Penske Automotive Group by 24.4% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 263,571 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,179,000 after buying an additional 51,720 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Penske Automotive Group by 17.4% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 259,513 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,560,000 after buying an additional 38,388 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.08% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PAG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Penske Automotive Group from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $165.00 target price on shares of Penske Automotive Group in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Benchmark began coverage on shares of Penske Automotive Group in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Penske Automotive Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $172.50.

Penske Automotive Group Company Profile

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.