GAMMA Investing LLC Purchases 57,042 Shares of Penske Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:PAG)

GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Penske Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:PAG) by 21,771.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 57,304 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 57,042 shares during the quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC owned 0.09% of Penske Automotive Group worth $8,251,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PAG. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in Penske Automotive Group by 21.4% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 2,771 shares of the company’s stock valued at $422,000 after purchasing an additional 489 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers grew its stake in Penske Automotive Group by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 54,063 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,241,000 after purchasing an additional 2,446 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its stake in Penske Automotive Group by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 2,055 shares of the company’s stock valued at $313,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Blue Chip Partners LLC grew its stake in Penske Automotive Group by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Blue Chip Partners LLC now owns 10,606 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,617,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC grew its stake in Penske Automotive Group by 128.9% in the fourth quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 11,973 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,825,000 after purchasing an additional 6,743 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.08% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Roger S. Penske sold 77,357 shares of Penske Automotive Group stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.37, for a total transaction of $12,483,099.09. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 140,042 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,598,577.54. The trade was a 35.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Greg C. Smith sold 1,529 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.64, for a total value of $247,147.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 80,415 shares of company stock valued at $12,967,930 over the last quarter. 51.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Penske Automotive Group from $165.00 to $140.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Penske Automotive Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Citigroup boosted their price target on Penske Automotive Group from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $140.00 price target on shares of Penske Automotive Group in a research note on Monday, May 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $167.00.

Penske Automotive Group Price Performance

Shares of PAG stock opened at $164.88 on Monday. Penske Automotive Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $134.05 and a fifty-two week high of $180.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.99 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 0.20 and a current ratio of 0.91. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $156.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $159.22.

Penske Automotive Group (NYSE:PAG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $3.39 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.12. Penske Automotive Group had a return on equity of 18.05% and a net margin of 3.02%. The firm had revenue of $7.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.68 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.21 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Penske Automotive Group, Inc. will post 13.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Penske Automotive Group declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, May 14th that authorizes the company to repurchase $250.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 2.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Penske Automotive Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 27th were issued a dividend of $1.26 per share. This is an increase from Penske Automotive Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 27th. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.06%. Penske Automotive Group’s payout ratio is 35.49%.

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.