Penske Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:PAG) Declares Dividend Increase – $0.96 Per Share

Penske Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:PAG) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, May 9th, Zacks reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be paid a dividend of 0.96 per share on Tuesday, June 4th. This represents a $3.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.45%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 17th. This is a positive change from Penske Automotive Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.87.

Penske Automotive Group has increased its dividend payment by an average of 49.0% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 5 years. Penske Automotive Group has a dividend payout ratio of 24.9% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Penske Automotive Group to earn $13.95 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.48 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 24.9%.

Penske Automotive Group Price Performance

NYSE PAG traded up $0.43 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $156.51. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 8,089 shares, compared to its average volume of 197,710. Penske Automotive Group has a 1 year low of $136.45 and a 1 year high of $180.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The company has a market capitalization of $10.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.85 and a beta of 1.21. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $153.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $152.94.

Penske Automotive Group (NYSE:PAG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $3.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.35 by ($0.14). Penske Automotive Group had a return on equity of 21.72% and a net margin of 3.27%. The firm had revenue of $7.45 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.52 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $4.31 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Penske Automotive Group will post 13.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director John Barr sold 1,600 shares of Penske Automotive Group stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.05, for a total value of $246,480.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 716 shares in the company, valued at $110,299.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Penske Automotive Group news, Director John Barr sold 1,600 shares of Penske Automotive Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.05, for a total transaction of $246,480.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 716 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $110,299.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Greg C. Smith sold 1,604 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.38, for a total transaction of $239,605.52. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 51,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,618,529.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 52.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on PAG. Bank of America boosted their target price on Penske Automotive Group from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Penske Automotive Group from $107.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $163.20.

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.