Palisade Capital Management LP Buys Shares of 9,058 Penske Automotive Group, Inc. $PAG

Palisade Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Penske Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:PAG) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 9,058 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,621,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Penske Automotive Group in the second quarter valued at about $417,516,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Penske Automotive Group by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,484,075 shares of the company’s stock worth $234,914,000 after purchasing an additional 92,794 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Penske Automotive Group by 11.9% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,447,910 shares of the company’s stock valued at $216,489,000 after buying an additional 154,443 shares during the last quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Penske Automotive Group by 14,852.0% during the 1st quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. now owns 884,411 shares of the company’s stock valued at $132,237,000 after buying an additional 878,496 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can grew its stake in shares of Penske Automotive Group by 39,232.7% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 863,352 shares of the company’s stock valued at $136,660,000 after buying an additional 861,157 shares in the last quarter. 77.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Michelle Hulgrave sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.80, for a total transaction of $257,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 17,596 shares in the company, valued at $3,022,992.80. This represents a 7.86% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 52.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PAG has been the topic of several analyst reports. Citigroup lowered shares of Penske Automotive Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $199.00 to $210.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Penske Automotive Group from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Penske Automotive Group from $200.00 to $238.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Penske Automotive Group from $170.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Stephens raised their target price on Penske Automotive Group from $166.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $208.50.

Penske Automotive Group Stock Performance

Shares of PAG opened at $217.83 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $14.30 billion, a PE ratio of 16.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.21. Penske Automotive Group, Inc. has a one year low of $140.12 and a one year high of $227.00. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $202.59 and its 200 day moving average price is $175.98.

Penske Automotive Group (NYSE:PAG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $3.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.42 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $8.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.98 billion. Penske Automotive Group had a net margin of 2.81% and a return on equity of 14.78%. The business’s quarterly 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. As a group, analysts expect that Penske Automotive Group, Inc. will post 13.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Penske Automotive Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th will be given a dividend of $1.44 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $5.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. This is a boost from Penske Automotive Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. Penske Automotive Group’s payout ratio is presently 42.42%.

About Penske Automotive Group

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.