Analysts Set Sonic Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:SAH) Price Target at $83.71

Shares of Sonic Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:SAH) have received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the ten research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $83.00.

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Stephens downgraded Sonic Automotive from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $72.00 to $82.00 in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Zacks Research downgraded Sonic Automotive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Benchmark raised their price objective on shares of Sonic Automotive from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Sonic Automotive in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Sonic Automotive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 18th.

Sonic Automotive Price Performance

Shares of SAH opened at $64.55 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.45 and a beta of 0.95. Sonic Automotive has a fifty-two week low of $52.00 and a fifty-two week high of $89.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.78, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.24. The business’s 50-day moving average is $77.82 and its 200-day moving average is $74.26.

Sonic Automotive (NYSE:SAH) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The company reported $1.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82 by ($0.41). The business had revenue of $3.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.59 billion. Sonic Automotive had a net margin of 0.86% and a return on equity of 21.69%. Sonic Automotive’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.26 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Sonic Automotive will post 6.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sonic Automotive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th will be given a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 15th. Sonic Automotive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.78%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sonic Automotive

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. lifted its position in Sonic Automotive by 26.2% in the first quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 641,237 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,525,000 after purchasing an additional 133,044 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in Sonic Automotive by 124.9% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 355,328 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,239,000 after purchasing an additional 197,336 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Sonic Automotive by 0.3% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 291,941 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,629,000 after purchasing an additional 808 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Sonic Automotive in the first quarter worth $7,317,000. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC lifted its position in Sonic Automotive by 79.2% in the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 126,740 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,130,000 after purchasing an additional 56,027 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 46.92% of the company’s stock.

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.