Penske Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:PAG) Announces Dividend Increase – $1.44 Per Share

Penske Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:PAG) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, July 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be paid a dividend of 1.44 per share on Tuesday, September 1st. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. This is a 1.4% increase from Penske Automotive Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42.

Penske Automotive Group has increased its dividend by an average of 0.4%annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 6 consecutive years. Penske Automotive Group has a dividend payout ratio of 39.3% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Penske Automotive Group to earn $14.46 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $5.68 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 39.3%.

Penske Automotive Group Stock Performance

Shares of PAG stock opened at $215.71 on Friday. Penske Automotive Group has a 1-year low of $140.12 and a 1-year high of $219.09. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The company has a market capitalization of $14.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.87. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $179.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $166.53.

Penske Automotive Group (NYSE:PAG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $3.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.91 by $0.14. Penske Automotive Group had a return on equity of 15.13% and a net margin of 2.85%.The firm had revenue of $7.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.71 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.66 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Penske Automotive Group will post 13.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Stephens upped their target price on Penske Automotive Group from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Citigroup downgraded shares of Penske Automotive Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $199.00 to $210.00 in a research report on Thursday. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Penske Automotive Group from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Penske Automotive Group from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Benchmark lowered shares of Penske Automotive Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $196.00.

About Penske Automotive Group

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.