Paragon Capital Management Ltd Trims Stock Holdings in Penske Automotive Group, Inc. $PAG

Paragon Capital Management Ltd trimmed its holdings in Penske Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:PAG) by 27.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,295 shares of the company’s stock after selling 502 shares during the period. Paragon Capital Management Ltd’s holdings in Penske Automotive Group were worth $223,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Penske Automotive Group in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $42,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in shares of Penske Automotive Group by 421.5% during the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 339 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 274 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Penske Automotive Group by 51.9% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 398 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group grew its position in shares of Penske Automotive Group by 353.0% during the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 453 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 353 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in shares of Penske Automotive Group by 31.0% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 528 shares of the company’s stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. 77.08% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on PAG shares. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Penske Automotive Group from $190.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 16th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Penske Automotive Group from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Penske Automotive Group from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $155.00 to $175.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Benchmark upped their target price on shares of Penske Automotive Group from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Penske Automotive Group from $200.00 to $206.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Penske Automotive Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $184.33.

Penske Automotive Group Stock Performance

Penske Automotive Group stock opened at $171.72 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 company has a market capitalization of $11.34 billion, a PE ratio of 11.95 and a beta of 0.89. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $178.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $167.19. Penske Automotive Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $134.05 and a twelve month high of $189.51.

Penske Automotive Group (NYSE:PAG) last posted its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $7.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.98 billion. Penske Automotive Group had a net margin of 3.13% and a return on equity of 17.43%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.61 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Penske Automotive Group, Inc. will post 13.86 EPS for the current year.

Penske Automotive Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th were paid a $1.32 dividend. This is a boost from Penske Automotive Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.26. This represents a $5.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. Penske Automotive Group’s payout ratio is presently 36.74%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Penske Automotive Group

In other news, CFO Michelle Hulgrave sold 1,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.55, for a total transaction of $200,805.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 18,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,454,211.10. This represents a 5.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Lisa Ann Davis sold 1,604 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.74, for a total transaction of $289,906.96. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 1,529 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $276,351.46. This trade represents a 51.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 51.70% of the company’s stock.

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.