Sonic Automotive (NYSE:SAH) Reaches New 1-Year High Following Analyst Upgrade

Sonic Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:SAH) reached a new 52-week high on Thursday after Barclays raised their price target on the stock from $77.00 to $92.00. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Sonic Automotive traded as high as $100.81 and last traded at $99.79, with a volume of 378264 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $92.38.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on SAH. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Sonic Automotive from $82.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Sonic Automotive from $90.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Morgan Stanley set a $72.00 price target on shares of Sonic Automotive in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Sonic Automotive from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Sonic Automotive from $91.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $90.67.

Insider Activity

In related news, President Jeff Dyke sold 35,114 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.22, for a total transaction of $2,992,415.08. Following the completion of the sale, the president owned 543,668 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,331,386.96. This represents a 6.07% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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 currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Sonic Automotive

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SAH. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Sonic Automotive by 3.8% during 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 grew its holdings 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. grew its holdings 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 increased its stake in Sonic Automotive by 20.5% during 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 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 46.92% of the company’s stock.

Sonic Automotive Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.93, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 1.03. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $82.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $70.85. The stock has a market cap of $3.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.89.

Sonic Automotive (NYSE:SAH) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.22. Sonic Automotive had a return on equity of 22.45% and a net margin of 0.72%.The company had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.73 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.48 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Sonic Automotive, Inc. will post 6.94 EPS for the current fiscal 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 issued a $0.41 dividend. This is an increase from Sonic Automotive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. Sonic Automotive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 52.23%.

About Sonic Automotive

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.