Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Sells 148,112 Shares of Sonic Automotive, Inc. $SAH

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. trimmed its position in Sonic Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:SAH) by 23.1% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 493,125 shares of the company’s stock after selling 148,112 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc.’s holdings in Sonic Automotive were worth $39,415,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SAH. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Sonic Automotive by 124.9% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 355,328 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,239,000 after purchasing an additional 197,336 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Sonic Automotive in the 1st quarter valued at $7,317,000. ProShare Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Sonic Automotive in the second quarter valued at $6,564,000. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Sonic Automotive by 111.4% during the first quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC now owns 123,724 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,047,000 after acquiring an additional 65,198 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC raised its stake in Sonic Automotive by 263.4% during the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 62,908 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,583,000 after acquiring an additional 45,596 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 46.92% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on SAH. Benchmark boosted their target price on shares of Sonic Automotive from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Sonic Automotive from $60.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price objective on shares of Sonic Automotive from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 24th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Sonic Automotive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 18th. Finally, Barclays began coverage on Sonic Automotive in a research report on Tuesday. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $71.00 price target on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sonic Automotive currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $80.75.

Sonic Automotive Price Performance

Shares of SAH stock opened at $63.80 on Friday. Sonic Automotive, Inc. has a 1 year low of $52.00 and a 1 year high of $89.62. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $72.15 and its 200-day moving average is $74.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.24 and a beta of 0.91.

Sonic Automotive (NYSE:SAH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 23rd. The company reported $1.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.82 by ($0.41). The company had revenue of $3.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.59 billion. Sonic Automotive had a return on equity of 21.65% and a net margin of 0.86%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.26 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Sonic Automotive, Inc. will post 6.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sonic Automotive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th will be issued a $0.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 15th. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. Sonic Automotive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.08%.

Sonic Automotive 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.