Needham & Company LLC Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Sonic Automotive (NYSE:SAH) Stock Price

Sonic Automotive (NYSE:SAH) had its target price cut by Needham & Company LLC from $139.00 to $96.00 in a research report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the stock. Needham & Company LLC‘s target price indicates a potential upside of 51.24% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on SAH. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Sonic Automotive from $72.00 to $64.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 6th. Stephens set a $89.00 target price on shares of Sonic Automotive in a report on Monday, July 13th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Sonic Automotive from $72.00 to $57.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 5th. Seaport Research Partners lowered shares of Sonic Automotive from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $185.00 to $205.00 in a report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Sonic Automotive from $87.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sonic Automotive currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $84.75.

Sonic Automotive Stock Up 0.6%

NYSE SAH opened at $63.48 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.92. Sonic Automotive has a 52 week low of $54.11 and a 52 week high of $113.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.88, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 1.01. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $68.13 and a 200-day moving average of $73.09.

Sonic Automotive (NYSE:SAH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The company reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.66 by ($0.36). The business had revenue of $3.99 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. Sonic Automotive had a return on equity of 20.75% and a net margin of 1.37%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.41 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Sonic Automotive will post 6.71 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Sonic Automotive

In other news, major shareholder Paul P. Rusnak purchased 12,555 shares of Sonic Automotive stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 14th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $59.90 per share, with a total value of $752,044.50. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 5,176,776 shares in the company, valued at $310,088,882.40. The trade was a 0.24% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Over the last quarter, insiders purchased 76,776 shares of company stock valued at $4,584,694. 43.68% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Sonic Automotive

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sonic Automotive during the 2nd quarter worth about $88,000. State of Wyoming bought a new position in shares of Sonic Automotive in the 1st quarter valued at about $79,000. CoreCap Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Sonic Automotive by 15.5% in the third quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 1,550 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Sonic Automotive in the second quarter valued at about $208,000. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp increased its position in shares of Sonic Automotive by 2,981.1% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 4,067 shares of the company’s stock valued at $279,000 after acquiring an additional 3,935 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 46.92% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Sonic Automotive

Here are the key news stories impacting Sonic Automotive this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Sonic Automotive declared a quarterly dividend of $0.41 per share, payable January 15, 2027, to shareholders of record on December 15. The annualized dividend is $1.64 per share, representing an approximately 2.6% yield and signaling continued shareholder returns. Dividend announcement
• Neutral Sentiment: Third-quarter revenue was $3.99 billion, up just 0.4% year over year but slightly below the $4.03 billion analyst consensus. Investors may view the limited growth as evidence of a challenging automotive retail environment. Third-quarter earnings results
• Negative Sentiment: Adjusted earnings came in at $1.30 per share, missing the $1.66 consensus estimate by $0.36 and declining from $1.41 in the prior-year quarter. The larger-than-expected earnings miss is the main reason the stock has decreased and prompted reports highlighting the post-earnings decline. Q3 earnings miss
• Negative Sentiment: Profitability remains relatively thin, with a reported 1.37% net margin. Combined with revenue growth of less than 1% and the earnings decline, this may reinforce concerns about margin pressure and near-term operating performance. Shares fall after Q3 miss

Sonic Automotive Company Profile

Sonic Automotive, Inc is a U.S.-based automotive retailer headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. The company operates franchised dealerships that sell new and pre-owned vehicles from a range of automobile manufacturers, along with related automotive products and services.

Its dealership operations provide vehicle financing and insurance products, maintenance and repair services, replacement parts, and collision-repair services. Sonic Automotive also operates EchoPark Automotive, a used-vehicle business focused on offering pre-owned vehicles and related finance and service products through dedicated retail locations.

Founded in 1997 by automotive entrepreneur O.