Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Makes New Investment in Penske Automotive Group, Inc. $PAG

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new position in shares of Penske Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:PAG) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 5,033 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $901,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Navalign LLC acquired a new position in Penske Automotive Group in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Penske Automotive Group during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Penske Automotive Group in the 2nd quarter worth about $35,000. Rothschild Investment LLC boosted its stake in Penske Automotive Group by 37.5% in the 4th quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 242 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in Penske Automotive Group by 179.0% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 279 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.08% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on PAG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Penske Automotive Group from $170.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Stephens raised their target price on shares of Penske Automotive Group from $166.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Benchmark downgraded shares of Penske Automotive Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Citigroup downgraded shares of Penske Automotive Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $199.00 to $210.00 in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Penske Automotive Group from $200.00 to $238.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $208.50.

Penske Automotive Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:PAG opened at $218.18 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.33 billion, a PE ratio of 16.07 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.21. The business has a 50-day moving average of $210.43 and a two-hundred day moving average of $179.43. Penske Automotive Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $140.12 and a 12 month high of $227.00.

Penske Automotive Group (NYSE:PAG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $3.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.42 by $0.20. Penske Automotive Group had a return on equity of 14.78% and a net margin of 2.81%.The business had revenue of $8.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.98 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.78 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Penske Automotive Group, Inc. will post 13.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Penske Automotive Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 14th were given a dividend of $1.44 per share. This represents a $5.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. This is a positive change from Penske Automotive Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 14th. Penske Automotive Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.42%.

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.