New York State Teachers Retirement System Decreases Position in Penske Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:PAG)

New York State Teachers Retirement System trimmed its holdings in Penske Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:PAG) by 4.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,709 shares of the company’s stock after selling 200 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Penske Automotive Group were worth $718,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Penske Automotive Group by 21.4% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 2,771 shares of the company’s stock worth $422,000 after purchasing an additional 489 shares during the period. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC increased its position in shares of Penske Automotive Group by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 7,675 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,171,000 after buying an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Penske Automotive Group during the 4th quarter worth about $240,000. Nilsine Partners LLC increased its position in Penske Automotive Group by 10.3% during the 4th quarter. Nilsine Partners LLC now owns 17,561 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,677,000 after purchasing an additional 1,636 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its position in Penske Automotive Group by 33.5% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 749 shares of the company’s stock worth $114,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares in 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 topic of a number of research analyst reports. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $165.00 price target on shares of Penske Automotive Group in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Benchmark began coverage on Penske Automotive Group in a report on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Penske Automotive Group from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $172.50.

Penske Automotive Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PAG opened at $163.54 on Monday. Penske Automotive Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $142.32 and a twelve month 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 company has a market capitalization of $10.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.89 and a beta of 1.20. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $161.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $160.52.

Penske Automotive Group (NYSE:PAG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $3.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.56 billion. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Penske Automotive Group, Inc. will post 13.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Penske Automotive Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th will be given a dividend of $1.22 per share. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.98%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 24th. This is a positive change from Penske Automotive Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. Penske Automotive Group’s payout ratio is 35.49%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Claude H. Denker III sold 8,746 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 28,917 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,003,508.51. The trade was a 23.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 51.70% of the company’s stock.

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.