Penske Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:PAG) Increases Dividend to $0.50 Per Share

Penske Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:PAG – Get Rating) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, May 12th, Zacks reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 23rd will be given a dividend of 0.50 per share on Wednesday, June 1st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.73%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 20th. This is an increase from Penske Automotive Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.47.

Penske Automotive Group has raised its dividend payment by an average of 7.8% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 3 years. Penske Automotive Group has a dividend payout ratio of 12.3% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Penske Automotive Group to earn $13.83 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.88 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 13.6%.

Penske Automotive Group stock opened at $115.94 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $101.66 and a 200 day moving average of $102.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.66, a P/E/G ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 1.25. Penske Automotive Group has a 12-month low of $72.35 and a 12-month high of $116.72. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Penske Automotive Group (NYSE:PAG – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 27th. The company reported $4.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.77 by $0.99. The company had revenue of $6.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.32 billion. Penske Automotive Group had a net margin of 5.13% and a return on equity of 35.33%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 20.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.26 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Penske Automotive Group will post 15.79 EPS for the current year.

PAG has been the subject of several analyst reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Penske Automotive Group from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 7th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Penske Automotive Group from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Penske Automotive Group from $120.00 to $105.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 7th. Finally, Zacks Investment Research upgraded Penske Automotive Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $129.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, May 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Penske Automotive Group has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $118.83.

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PAG. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in shares of Penske Automotive Group by 75.4% during the 2nd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 606,567 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,789,000 after acquiring an additional 260,834 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. boosted its position in shares of Penske Automotive Group by 13.9% during the 4th quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 1,619,163 shares of the company’s stock valued at $173,607,000 after acquiring an additional 197,894 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Penske Automotive Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $11,919,000. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in shares of Penske Automotive Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,461,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in shares of Penske Automotive Group by 20.1% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 166,246 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,580,000 after acquiring an additional 27,812 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 50.13% of the company’s stock.

About Penske Automotive Group (Get Rating)

Penske Automotive Group, Inc, a diversified transportation services company, operates automotive and commercial truck dealerships. 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.

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