Penske Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:PAG) Shares Sold by Brown Advisory Inc.

Brown Advisory Inc. cut its stake in Penske Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:PAG) by 21.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,114 shares of the company’s stock after selling 592 shares during the quarter. Brown Advisory Inc.’s holdings in Penske Automotive Group were worth $304,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of PAG. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Penske Automotive Group by 0.7% during the 4th 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. grew 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 valued at $122,998,000 after acquiring an additional 13,106 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 20,506 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Penske Automotive Group by 17.4% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 259,513 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,560,000 after acquiring an additional 38,388 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Penske Automotive Group by 18.5% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 155,560 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,714,000 after purchasing an additional 24,274 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.08% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Penske Automotive Group news, Director Greg C. Smith sold 1,529 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.64, for a total value of $247,147.56. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Roger S. Penske sold 77,357 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 140,042 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,598,577.54. This represents a 35.58% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 82,044 shares of company stock valued at $13,257,948. 52.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on PAG. Bank of America increased their target price on Penske Automotive Group from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Penske Automotive Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $140.00 price objective on shares of Penske Automotive Group in a report on Wednesday, June 11th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Penske Automotive Group from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Penske Automotive Group from $165.00 to $140.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $172.00.

Penske Automotive Group Stock Performance

Shares of PAG opened at $177.03 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.71 billion, a PE ratio of 12.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.91. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $169.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $161.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.23. Penske Automotive Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $134.05 and a 12-month high of $186.33.

Penske Automotive Group (NYSE:PAG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported $3.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $0.12. Penske Automotive Group had a net margin of 3.10% and a return on equity of 17.80%. The company had revenue of $7.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.68 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.21 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Penske Automotive Group, Inc. will post 13.86 EPS for the current year.

Penske Automotive Group announced that its board has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, May 14th that permits the company to repurchase $250.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 2.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Penske Automotive Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 27th were paid a $1.26 dividend. This is an increase from Penske Automotive Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.22. This represents a $5.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 27th. Penske Automotive Group’s payout ratio is presently 35.49%.

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.