Quantbot Technologies LP Makes New $1.53 Million Investment in Penske Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:PAG)

Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in Penske Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:PAG) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 10,054 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,533,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in PAG. Wealthspire Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Penske Automotive Group by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 2,738 shares of the company’s stock valued at $417,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Blue Chip Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Penske Automotive Group by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Blue Chip Partners LLC now owns 10,606 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,617,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Penske Automotive Group by 44.8% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 262 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its stake in shares of Penske Automotive Group by 0.5% during the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 16,648 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,704,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Penske Automotive Group by 5.1% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 1,830 shares of the company’s stock worth $297,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. 77.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PAG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Penske Automotive Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Penske Automotive Group in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Penske Automotive Group from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Benchmark initiated coverage on Penske Automotive Group in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Penske Automotive Group has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $172.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Claude H. Denker III sold 8,746 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.03, for a total transaction of $1,513,320.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,917 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,003,508.51. This represents a 23.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director John Barr sold 1,529 shares of Penske Automotive Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.45, for a total value of $237,683.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 51.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Penske Automotive Group Stock Performance

PAG stock opened at $154.31 on Tuesday. Penske Automotive Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $142.32 and a 1-year high of $180.12. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The firm has a market cap of $10.30 billion, a PE ratio of 11.22 and a beta of 1.24. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $163.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $159.64.

Penske Automotive Group (NYSE:PAG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $3.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.37 by $0.17. Penske Automotive Group had a return on equity of 18.05% and a net margin of 3.02%. The business had revenue of $7.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.56 billion. As a group, research analysts forecast that Penske Automotive Group, Inc. will post 13.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Penske Automotive Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th were given a dividend of $1.22 per share. This is an increase from Penske Automotive Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. This represents a $4.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.16%. Penske Automotive Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.49%.

Penske Automotive Group 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.