Sonic Automotive (NYSE:SAH) Rating Lowered to Underweight at Morgan Stanley

Sonic Automotive (NYSE:SAH) was downgraded by stock analysts at Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating in a research report issued on Friday. They presently have a $72.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective points to a potential downside of 14.97% from the stock’s current price.

SAH has been the topic of several other reports. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Sonic Automotive from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Sonic Automotive from $95.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. UBS Group boosted their target price on Sonic Automotive from $90.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Barclays upped their price target on Sonic Automotive from $77.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Sonic Automotive from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sonic Automotive currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $97.89.

Sonic Automotive Stock Down 2.5%

NYSE SAH opened at $84.67 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $89.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $74.68. 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 company has a market cap of $2.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.86. Sonic Automotive has a one year low of $54.11 and a one year high of $113.67.

Sonic Automotive (NYSE:SAH) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.07. Sonic Automotive had a net margin of 1.37% and a return on equity of 20.75%. The company had revenue of $3.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.78 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.19 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Sonic Automotive will post 6.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Sonic Automotive news, President Jeff Dyke sold 50,000 shares of Sonic Automotive stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.97, for a total transaction of $4,148,500.00. Following the transaction, the president directly owned 111,622 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,261,277.34. The trade was a 30.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 100,000 shares of company stock worth $8,408,160 over the last quarter. 43.68% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Sonic Automotive

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SAH. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its position in shares of Sonic Automotive by 992.5% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 437 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 397 shares during the period. Camelot Portfolios LLC purchased a new position in Sonic Automotive in the fourth quarter worth approximately $41,000. Torren Management LLC purchased a new position in Sonic Automotive in the fourth quarter worth approximately $50,000. National Bank of Canada FI acquired a new stake in Sonic Automotive during the third quarter worth $78,000. Finally, State of Wyoming acquired a new stake in Sonic Automotive during the first quarter worth $79,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 46.92% of the company’s stock.

Sonic Automotive Company Profile

Sonic Automotive, Inc is a publicly traded automotive retailer that operates a network of franchised new-car dealerships and used-vehicle dealerships across the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the company offers a range of services that include vehicle sales, leasing, finance and insurance products, service and parts, and collision repair. Sonic Automotive’s dealerships represent numerous major automotive brands, and the company also markets a broad selection of pre-owned vehicles under its own banner.

In addition to its core dealership operations, Sonic Automotive has developed digital retail capabilities that allow customers to research, shop and complete transactions online.