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Penske (PAG) Soars 9.9%: Is Further Upside Left in the Stock?

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Penske Automotive (PAG - Free Report) shares rallied 9.9% in the last trading session to close at $214.57. This move can be attributable to notable volume with a higher number of shares being traded than in a typical session. This compares to the stock's 10.5% gain over the past four weeks.

Penske Automotive shares jumped after Penske Corporation and Mitsui & Co. made an unsolicited, preliminary, non-binding offer to acquire the remaining shares of the company. Together, Penske Corporation, Mitsui, and their affiliates currently own 72.6% of Penske Automotive’s outstanding common stock, and they offered to acquire the remaining shares for $210 per share in cash.

This auto dealership chain is expected to post quarterly earnings of $3.38 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of -10.6%. Revenues are expected to be $7.93 billion, up 3.4% from the year-ago quarter.

Earnings and revenue growth expectations certainly give a good sense of the potential strength in a stock, but empirical research shows that trends in earnings estimate revisions are strongly correlated with near-term stock price movements.

For Penske, the consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has been revised marginally lower over the last 30 days to the current level. And a negative trend in earnings estimate revisions doesn't usually translate into price appreciation. So, make sure to keep an eye on PAG going forward to see if this recent jump can turn into more strength down the road.

 

The stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today's Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) stocks here >>>>

Penske belongs to the Zacks Automotive - Retail and Whole Sales industry. Another stock from the same industry, Group 1 Automotive (GPI - Free Report) , closed the last trading session 5.2% higher at $327.93. Over the past month, GPI has returned -2.1%.

Group 1 Automotive's consensus EPS estimate for the upcoming report has changed -1.6% over the past month to $10.79. Compared to the company's year-ago EPS, this represents a change of -6.3%. Group 1 Automotive currently boasts a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell).

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