Penske Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:PAG) Stake Lifted by Cetera Investment Advisers

Cetera Investment Advisers increased its stake in shares of Penske Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:PAG) by 7.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,662 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 343 shares during the quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers’ holdings in Penske Automotive Group were worth $671,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PAG. LPL Financial LLC grew its stake in Penske Automotive Group by 48.0% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 9,638 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,469,000 after buying an additional 3,124 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Penske Automotive Group by 15.2% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,898 shares of the company’s stock worth $747,000 after buying an additional 645 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its position in Penske Automotive Group by 10.7% during the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 4,480 shares of the company’s stock worth $683,000 after acquiring an additional 432 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its position in Penske Automotive Group by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 2,651 shares of the company’s stock worth $404,000 after acquiring an additional 160 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its position in Penske Automotive Group by 97.8% during the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 45,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,936,000 after acquiring an additional 22,500 shares during the period. 77.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Roger S. Penske sold 77,357 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly owned 140,042 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,598,577.54. This represents a 35.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Greg C. Smith sold 1,529 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 a total of 82,044 shares of company stock worth $13,257,948 over the last 90 days. 51.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on PAG. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $140.00 price target on shares of Penske Automotive Group in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. Bank of America boosted their price target on Penske Automotive Group from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 16th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Penske Automotive Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $190.00 price target (up previously from $180.00) on shares of Penske Automotive Group in a research report on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Penske Automotive Group from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $155.00 to $175.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Penske Automotive Group has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $181.00.

Penske Automotive Group Trading Down 1.6%

Shares of Penske Automotive Group stock opened at $182.92 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm has a market cap of $12.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.73 and a beta of 0.87. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $174.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $164.14. Penske Automotive Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $134.05 and a fifty-two week high of $186.55.

Penske Automotive Group (NYSE:PAG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $3.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.56 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $7.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.98 billion. Penske Automotive Group had a return on equity of 17.43% and a net margin of 3.13%. The company’s revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.61 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Penske Automotive Group, Inc. will post 13.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Penske Automotive Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a $1.32 dividend. This represents a $5.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. This is a positive change from Penske Automotive Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.26. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. Penske Automotive Group’s payout ratio is currently 36.74%.

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.