Sonic Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:SAH) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Sonic Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:SAH) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $67.20.

SAH has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Sonic Automotive from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Sonic Automotive from $67.00 to $66.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $74.00 price target on shares of Sonic Automotive in a research report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Sonic Automotive from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $40.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Sonic Automotive from $75.00 to $74.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sonic Automotive

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of Sonic Automotive by 346.1% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 24,413 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,427,000 after purchasing an additional 18,940 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Sonic Automotive by 418.9% in the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 21,692 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,269,000 after purchasing an additional 17,512 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Sonic Automotive by 124.7% in the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 55,383 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,239,000 after buying an additional 30,731 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Sonic Automotive in the third quarter valued at about $532,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Sonic Automotive by 6.7% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 9,643 shares of the company’s stock valued at $530,000 after buying an additional 609 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 46.92% of the company’s stock.

Sonic Automotive Stock Performance

Shares of SAH opened at $68.39 on Friday. Sonic Automotive has a one year low of $47.82 and a one year high of $70.88. The company has a 50-day moving average of $65.64 and a two-hundred day moving average of $60.44. The stock has a market cap of $2.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.17 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.35.

Sonic Automotive (NYSE:SAH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $1.26 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.43 by ($0.17). The company had revenue of $3.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.55 billion. Sonic Automotive had a return on equity of 21.27% and a net margin of 1.41%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.02 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Sonic Automotive will post 5.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Sonic Automotive Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.05%. This is an increase from Sonic Automotive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Sonic Automotive’s payout ratio is currently 24.91%.

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.