Sonic Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:SAH) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Sonic Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:SAH) have been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the ten brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have issued a hold recommendation, three have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $83.00.

SAH has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC lowered their target price on shares of Sonic Automotive from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Benchmark upped their target price on shares of Sonic Automotive from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. Stephens lowered shares of Sonic Automotive from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $72.00 to $82.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Sonic Automotive from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Sonic Automotive from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th.

Sonic Automotive Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of Sonic Automotive stock opened at $64.67 on Tuesday. Sonic Automotive has a 52-week low of $52.00 and a 52-week high of $89.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $77.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $74.37. The firm has a market cap of $2.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.48 and a beta of 0.95.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.82 by ($0.41). Sonic Automotive had a return on equity of 21.65% and a net margin of 0.86%.The company had revenue of $3.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.59 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.26 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Sonic Automotive will post 6.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Sonic Automotive Dividend Announcement

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

Institutional Trading of Sonic Automotive

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Voya Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Sonic Automotive by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 7,451 shares of the company’s stock worth $424,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Sonic Automotive by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,509 shares of the company’s stock worth $362,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC grew its holdings in Sonic Automotive by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC now owns 23,141 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,850,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its holdings in Sonic Automotive by 992.5% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 437 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 397 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings in Sonic Automotive by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 22,581 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,286,000 after acquiring an additional 442 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 46.92% of the company’s stock.

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.