American Century Companies Inc. Has $17.83 Million Holdings in Penske Automotive Group, Inc. $PAG

American Century Companies Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Penske Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:PAG) by 52.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 123,863 shares of the company’s stock after selling 135,650 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned 0.19% of Penske Automotive Group worth $17,834,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Penske Automotive Group by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,004,832 shares of the company’s stock valued at $288,656,000 after purchasing an additional 5,641 shares during the last quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. raised its stake in Penske Automotive Group by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. now owns 806,860 shares of the company’s stock valued at $122,998,000 after purchasing an additional 13,106 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Penske Automotive Group by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 606,709 shares of the company’s stock valued at $92,487,000 after buying an additional 20,506 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Penske Automotive Group by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 223,630 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,198,000 after buying an additional 7,276 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Penske Automotive Group by 18.5% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 155,560 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,714,000 after buying an additional 24,274 shares in the last quarter. 77.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Penske Automotive Group news, EVP Shane M. Spradlin sold 3,158 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.10, for a total transaction of $527,701.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 36,152 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,040,999.20. This represents a 8.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Lisa Ann Davis sold 1,604 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.74, for a total transaction of $289,906.96. Following the transaction, the director owned 1,529 shares in the company, valued at $276,351.46. The trade was a 51.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 84,748 shares of company stock worth $13,748,660 in the last quarter. 52.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PAG has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Penske Automotive Group from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Penske Automotive Group from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $140.00 price objective on shares of Penske Automotive Group in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Penske Automotive Group from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $155.00 to $175.00 in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Penske Automotive Group from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $181.00.

Penske Automotive Group Stock Up 3.4%

PAG opened at $187.1050 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $175.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $164.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.21 and a current ratio of 0.90. Penske Automotive Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $134.05 and a twelve month high of $188.43. The firm has a market cap of $12.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.02 and a beta of 0.87.

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

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

Penske Automotive Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. This is a positive change from Penske Automotive Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.26. 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.