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Penske Automotive (PAG) Could Be a Great Choice

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All investors love getting big returns from their portfolio, whether it's through stocks, bonds, ETFs, or other types of securities. But for income investors, generating consistent cash flow from each of your liquid investments is your primary focus.

While cash flow can come from bond interest or interest from other types of investments, income investors hone in on dividends. A dividend is the distribution of a company's earnings paid out to shareholders; it's often viewed by its dividend yield, a metric that measures a dividend as a percent of the current stock price. Many academic studies show that dividends make up large portions of long-term returns, and in many cases, dividend contributions surpass one-third of total returns.

Penske Automotive in Focus

Penske Automotive (PAG - Free Report) is headquartered in Bloomfield Hills, and is in the Retail-Wholesale sector. The stock has seen a price change of 8.1% since the start of the year. The auto dealership chain is currently shelling out a dividend of $1.26 per share, with a dividend yield of 3.06%. This compares to the Automotive - Retail and Whole Sales industry's yield of 0.24% and the S&P 500's yield of 1.53%.

In terms of dividend growth, the company's current annualized dividend of $5.04 is up 23.2% from last year. Over the last 5 years, Penske Automotive has increased its dividend 5 times on a year-over-year basis for an average annual increase of 30.89%. Looking ahead, future dividend growth will be dependent on earnings growth and payout ratio, which is the proportion of a company's annual earnings per share that it pays out as a dividend. Right now, Penske's payout ratio is 35%, which means it paid out 35% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.

Looking at this fiscal year, PAG expects solid earnings growth. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2025 is $13.99 per share, representing a year-over-year earnings growth rate of 1.82%.

Bottom Line

From greatly improving stock investing profits and reducing overall portfolio risk to providing tax advantages, investors like dividends for a variety of different reasons. It's important to keep in mind that not all companies provide a quarterly payout.

Big, established firms that have more secure profits are often seen as the best dividend options, but it's fairly uncommon to see high-growth businesses or tech start-ups offer their stockholders a dividend. During periods of rising interest rates, income investors must be mindful that high-yielding stocks tend to struggle. With that in mind, PAG is a compelling investment opportunity. Not only is it a strong dividend play, but the stock currently sits at a Zacks Rank of 3 (Hold).


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