Sonic Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:SAH) Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.30

Sonic Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:SAH) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, April 25th, Zacks reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a dividend of 0.30 per share on Monday, July 15th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.92%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th.

Sonic Automotive has raised its dividend by an average of 42.6% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 3 consecutive years. Sonic Automotive has a dividend payout ratio of 18.4% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Sonic Automotive to earn $6.37 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.20 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 18.8%.

Sonic Automotive Stock Up 10.0 %

SAH opened at $62.35 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.10, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 0.41. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $52.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $52.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.78 and a beta of 1.82. Sonic Automotive has a 12 month low of $39.02 and a 12 month high of $64.68.

Sonic Automotive (NYSE:SAH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.36 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.23 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $3.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.45 billion. Sonic Automotive had a return on equity of 27.69% and a net margin of 1.21%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.33 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Sonic Automotive will post 5.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SAH has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Sonic Automotive from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. TheStreet raised Sonic Automotive from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. StockNews.com downgraded Sonic Automotive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, Bank of America raised Sonic Automotive from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $55.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Friday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $56.00.

About Sonic Automotive

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.