Sonic Automotive (NYSE:SAH – Get Rating) had its price objective cut by Morgan Stanley from $35.00 to $33.00 in a research report published on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an underweight rating on the stock.
SAH has been the topic of a number of other reports. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Sonic Automotive in a research report on Wednesday, October 12th. They issued a hold rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Sonic Automotive from a neutral rating to an overweight rating and set a $60.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 6th. Finally, Benchmark dropped their target price on shares of Sonic Automotive from $71.00 to $62.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $51.67.
Sonic Automotive Stock Down 1.7 %
Shares of NYSE SAH opened at $48.50 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $49.73 and a 200-day moving average of $46.85. Sonic Automotive has a 12-month low of $34.17 and a 12-month high of $59.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The stock has a market cap of $1.90 billion, a PE ratio of 5.30 and a beta of 1.89.
Sonic Automotive (NYSE:SAH – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 27th. The company reported $2.23 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.50 by ($0.27). Sonic Automotive has a return on equity of 35.42% and a net margin of 2.71%. The company had revenue of $3.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.67 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.96 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Sonic Automotive will post 9.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Sonic Automotive Increases Dividends
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 15th were paid a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 14th. This is a boost from Sonic Automotive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Sonic Automotive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.24%.
Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sonic Automotive
A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Sonic Automotive by 1.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,312,003 shares of the company’s stock worth $98,283,000 after buying an additional 33,306 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Sonic Automotive by 6.1% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,952,410 shares of the company’s stock valued at $84,539,000 after buying an additional 112,723 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Sonic Automotive by 2.1% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 867,884 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,001,000 after purchasing an additional 17,772 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management lifted its position in shares of Sonic Automotive by 8.1% during the third quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 713,300 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,886,000 after purchasing an additional 53,600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Sonic Automotive by 411.5% during the third quarter. Balyasny Asset Management LLC now owns 633,755 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,442,000 after purchasing an additional 509,855 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.50% of the company’s stock.
About Sonic Automotive
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Sonic Automotive, Inc operates as an automotive retailer in the United States. It operates in two segments, Franchised Dealerships and EchoPark. 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.
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