Barclays Issues Positive Forecast for Sonic Automotive (NYSE:SAH) Stock Price

Sonic Automotive (NYSE:SAH) had its target price hoisted by Barclays from $77.00 to $92.00 in a research report report published on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the stock.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on SAH. Zacks Research raised Sonic Automotive from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Citigroup raised their price target on Sonic Automotive from $82.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Sonic Automotive from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Stephens set a $89.00 price objective on shares of Sonic Automotive in a research note on Monday. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Sonic Automotive from $90.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $90.67.

Sonic Automotive Stock Up 8.0%

Shares of NYSE:SAH opened at $99.79 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $3.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.78, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.89. Sonic Automotive has a 12 month low of $54.11 and a 12 month high of $100.81. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.93. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $82.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $70.85.

Sonic Automotive (NYSE:SAH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.73 billion. Sonic Automotive had a return on equity of 22.45% and a net margin of 0.72%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.48 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Sonic Automotive will post 6.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Sonic Automotive Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th were paid a dividend of $0.41 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. This is an increase from Sonic Automotive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. Sonic Automotive’s dividend payout ratio is 52.23%.

Insider Transactions at Sonic Automotive

In related news, President Jeff Dyke sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.97, for a total transaction of $4,148,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president owned 111,622 shares in the company, valued at $9,261,277.34. The trade was a 30.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders sold 100,000 shares of company stock worth $8,408,160. 43.68% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Sonic Automotive

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Sonic Automotive by 3.8% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,313,857 shares of the company’s stock worth $90,088,000 after purchasing an additional 48,599 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in Sonic Automotive by 9.8% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 701,133 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,623,000 after purchasing an additional 62,426 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Sonic Automotive by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 510,963 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,608,000 after purchasing an additional 54,455 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Sonic Automotive by 20.5% in the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 383,117 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,151,000 after buying an additional 65,266 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Sonic Automotive by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 375,034 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,204,000 after buying an additional 4,443 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 46.92% of the company’s stock.

Sonic Automotive Company Profile

Sonic Automotive, Inc is a publicly traded automotive retailer that operates a network of franchised new-car dealerships and used-vehicle dealerships across the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the company offers a range of services that include vehicle sales, leasing, finance and insurance products, service and parts, and collision repair. Sonic Automotive’s dealerships represent numerous major automotive brands, and the company also markets a broad selection of pre-owned vehicles under its own banner.

In addition to its core dealership operations, Sonic Automotive has developed digital retail capabilities that allow customers to research, shop and complete transactions online.