Sonic Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:SAH) Stock Has Consensus Price Target of $97.00

Sonic Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:SAH) has earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the ten brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have given a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $90.12.

SAH has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Sonic Automotive from $72.00 to $57.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 5th. Bank of America raised their price target on Sonic Automotive from $91.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Seaport Research Partners cut shares of Sonic Automotive from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $185.00 to $205.00 in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Sonic Automotive from $95.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Sonic Automotive from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday.

Sonic Automotive Price Performance

Sonic Automotive stock opened at $60.66 on Tuesday. Sonic Automotive has a 52 week low of $54.11 and a 52 week high of $113.67. The firm has a market cap of $1.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.67, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.92. 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 business’s fifty day moving average is $73.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $78.17.

Sonic Automotive (NYSE:SAH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $3.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.78 billion. Sonic Automotive had a return on equity of 20.75% and a net margin of 1.37%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.19 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Sonic Automotive will post 6.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sonic Automotive Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be issued a $0.41 dividend. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 15th. Sonic Automotive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sonic Automotive

In other Sonic Automotive news, major shareholder Paul P. Rusnak purchased 27,756 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 5th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $59.76 per share, for a total transaction of $1,658,698.56. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider owned 5,149,401 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $307,728,203.76. The trade was a 0.54% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In the last quarter, insiders purchased 64,221 shares of company stock valued at $3,832,650. 43.68% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. CoreCap Advisors LLC grew its stake in Sonic Automotive by 15.5% in the 3rd quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 1,550 shares of the company’s stock worth $94,000 after buying an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new position in shares of Sonic Automotive during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $373,000. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sonic Automotive in the 2nd quarter worth about $88,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its position in Sonic Automotive by 14.5% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 4,594 shares of the company’s stock valued at $390,000 after buying an additional 582 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Denali Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Sonic Automotive during the 2nd quarter valued at $4,799,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 46.92% of the company’s stock.

Sonic Automotive Company Profile

Sonic Automotive, Inc is an automotive retailer headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. The company operates franchised dealerships that sell new and used cars and light trucks from a range of manufacturers, along with related automotive products and services.

Its dealership operations provide vehicle financing and insurance products, parts and maintenance services, collision repair, and other after-sales support. Sonic Automotive also operates EchoPark Automotive, a used-vehicle retail business focused on providing a broad selection of pre-owned vehicles and related services.

Founded in 1997 by automotive entrepreneur O.