Penske Automotive Group (NYSE:PAG) Rating Increased to Overweight at Morgan Stanley

Penske Automotive Group (NYSE:PAG) was upgraded by equities researchers at Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm currently has a $180.00 price target on the stock, up from their prior price target of $115.00. Morgan Stanley’s price target suggests a potential upside of 11.20% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. Stephens assumed coverage on Penske Automotive Group in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $161.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Penske Automotive Group from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Penske Automotive Group from $140.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Penske Automotive Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $175.40.

Penske Automotive Group Trading Up 0.5 %

PAG stock opened at $161.87 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.81 billion, a PE ratio of 11.26 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 0.22 and a current ratio of 0.98. Penske Automotive Group has a one year low of $137.95 and a one year high of $179.72. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $161.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $155.73.

Penske Automotive Group (NYSE:PAG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $3.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.39 by $0.22. Penske Automotive Group had a net margin of 3.05% and a return on equity of 19.82%. The business had revenue of $7.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.59 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.41 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Penske Automotive Group will post 13.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director John Barr sold 716 shares of Penske Automotive Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.71, for a total transaction of $122,228.36. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 51.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PAG. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Penske Automotive Group by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,036,010 shares of the company’s stock worth $326,800,000 after purchasing an additional 5,399 shares during the period. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Penske Automotive Group by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. now owns 777,574 shares of the company’s stock valued at $115,874,000 after buying an additional 13,968 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Penske Automotive Group by 31.1% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 417,932 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,280,000 after buying an additional 99,164 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Penske Automotive Group by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 300,476 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,229,000 after acquiring an additional 18,310 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Penske Automotive Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,844,000. Institutional investors own 77.08% of the company’s stock.

Penske Automotive Group Company 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.