AXQ Capital LP Invests $485,000 in Penske Automotive Group, Inc. $PAG

AXQ Capital LP purchased a new position in shares of Penske Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:PAG) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 3,067 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $485,000.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Penske Automotive Group by 48.9% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,391,281 shares of the company’s stock valued at $241,958,000 after acquiring an additional 456,611 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Penske Automotive Group by 6.6% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 726,490 shares of the company’s stock worth $125,043,000 after purchasing an additional 44,749 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Penske Automotive Group by 28.4% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 380,267 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,751,000 after purchasing an additional 84,045 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Penske Automotive Group by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 343,070 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,315,000 after purchasing an additional 4,473 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Penske Automotive Group during the fourth quarter valued at $32,137,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.08% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Penske Automotive Group from $193.00 to $199.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Penske Automotive Group from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $190.00 target price on shares of Penske Automotive Group in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Stephens raised their target price on shares of Penske Automotive Group from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Penske Automotive Group from $195.00 to $190.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $182.63.

Penske Automotive Group Trading Down 0.2%

NYSE:PAG opened at $172.02 on Thursday. Penske Automotive Group, Inc. has a one year low of $140.12 and a one year high of $189.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.96. The firm has a market cap of $11.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.87. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $160.63 and a 200-day simple moving average of $160.93.

Penske Automotive Group (NYSE:PAG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $3.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.91 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $7.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.71 billion. Penske Automotive Group had a net margin of 2.85% and a return on equity of 15.13%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.66 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Penske Automotive Group, Inc. will post 13.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Penske Automotive Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 26th were issued a dividend of $1.42 per share. This is an increase from Penske Automotive Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. This represents a $5.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 26th. Penske Automotive Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Penske Automotive Group

In other news, CFO Michelle Hulgrave sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $171.80, for a total value of $257,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 17,596 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,022,992.80. The trade was a 7.86% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Greg C. Smith sold 1,488 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.02, for a total value of $238,109.76. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 52.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Penske Automotive Group Profile

Penske Automotive Group, Inc (NYSE: PAG), headquartered in Bloomfield Township, Michigan, is an international transportation services company primarily focused on automotive and commercial truck dealerships. The company retails new and pre-owned vehicles across a broad spectrum of brands, while offering parts, maintenance, collision repair and reconditioning services. In addition, Penske provides financing and insurance products through its integrated finance and insurance operations, supporting both retail customers and commercial clients.

Formed in 1990 as United Auto Group and publicly traded since 1999, Penske Automotive Group has grown through organic expansion and strategic acquisitions to establish a network of dealerships and service centers across the United States and Europe.