Sonic Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:SAH) Receives $83.00 Average Price Target from Brokerages

Sonic Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:SAH) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the eleven research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have issued a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $83.00.

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on SAH shares. Zacks Research raised Sonic Automotive from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Bank of America started coverage on Sonic Automotive in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Citigroup lifted their target price on Sonic Automotive from $82.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Stephens lowered their target price on Sonic Automotive from $68.00 to $67.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Sonic Automotive in a research note on Friday, March 27th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sonic Automotive

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its stake in shares of Sonic Automotive by 992.5% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 437 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 397 shares during the period. Camelot Portfolios LLC bought a new position in shares of Sonic Automotive in the 4th quarter worth $41,000. Torren Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Sonic Automotive in the 4th quarter worth $50,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new position in shares of Sonic Automotive in the 3rd quarter worth $63,000. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI bought a new position in shares of Sonic Automotive in the 3rd quarter worth $78,000. 46.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sonic Automotive Trading Up 0.4%

SAH stock opened at $82.48 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $73.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $66.57. Sonic Automotive has a fifty-two week low of $54.11 and a fifty-two week high of $89.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.93, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.29.

Sonic Automotive (NYSE:SAH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.22. Sonic Automotive had a return on equity of 22.45% and a net margin of 0.72%.The firm had revenue of $3.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.73 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.48 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Sonic Automotive will post 6.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sonic Automotive Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid a $0.41 dividend. This is an increase from Sonic Automotive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Sonic Automotive’s payout ratio is 48.41%.

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.