David Bruton Smith Sells 3,861 Shares of Sonic Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:SAH) Stock

Sonic Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:SAH) CEO David Bruton Smith sold 3,861 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.43, for a total transaction of $237,181.23. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 583,054 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,817,007.22. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Sonic Automotive Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of Sonic Automotive stock opened at $57.14 on Friday. Sonic Automotive, Inc. has a 1 year low of $39.02 and a 1 year high of $64.68. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $52.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $52.39. The company has a market cap of $1.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.71 and a beta of 1.75. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.11.

Sonic Automotive (NYSE:SAH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.30 by $0.06. Sonic Automotive had a net margin of 1.21% and a return on equity of 27.46%. The firm had revenue of $3.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.45 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.33 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Sonic Automotive, Inc. will post 5.71 EPS for the current year.

Sonic Automotive Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.10%. Sonic Automotive’s dividend payout ratio is 24.59%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sonic Automotive

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SAH. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sonic Automotive in the first quarter valued at $30,000. TFO Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in Sonic Automotive by 35,366.7% in the 4th quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,128 shares of the company’s stock valued at $120,000 after buying an additional 2,122 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sonic Automotive in the 3rd quarter valued at $135,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its stake in shares of Sonic Automotive by 16.6% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 3,132 shares of the company’s stock valued at $176,000 after buying an additional 447 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Sonic Automotive during the 4th quarter worth about $185,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 46.92% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Sonic Automotive from $48.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Sonic Automotive from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. StockNews.com cut Sonic Automotive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. TheStreet raised shares of Sonic Automotive from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Sonic Automotive from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $55.00 to $68.00 in a report on Friday, April 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $56.60.

Sonic Automotive Company Profile

Sonic Automotive, Inc operates as an automotive retailer in the United States. It operates in three segments, Franchised Dealerships, EchoPark, and Powersports. The Franchised Dealerships segment is involved in the sale of new and used cars and light trucks, and replacement parts; provision of vehicle maintenance, manufacturer warranty repair, and paint and collision repair services; and arrangement of extended warranties, service contracts, financing, insurance, and other aftermarket products for its guests.