Sonic Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:SAH) Shares Sold by Texas Permanent School Fund Corp

Texas Permanent School Fund Corp decreased its position in Sonic Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:SAH) by 6.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,004 shares of the company’s stock after selling 966 shares during the quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp’s holdings in Sonic Automotive were worth $668,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of SAH. Balyasny Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Sonic Automotive by 411.5% in the 3rd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management LLC now owns 633,755 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,442,000 after buying an additional 509,855 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its position in shares of Sonic Automotive by 1,726.2% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 456,311 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,715,000 after purchasing an additional 431,324 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Sonic Automotive during the first quarter worth about $28,000. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Sonic Automotive by 293.0% during the fourth quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 301,829 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,871,000 after acquiring an additional 225,029 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Voss Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Sonic Automotive during the second quarter worth about $9,040,000. 48.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SAH has been the subject of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Sonic Automotive from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $50.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, October 31st. TheStreet cut shares of Sonic Automotive from a “b” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Monday, August 28th. Benchmark lifted their price objective on shares of Sonic Automotive from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 31st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Sonic Automotive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $51.75.

Insider Activity at Sonic Automotive

In related news, CFO Heath Byrd sold 34,186 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.01, for a total transaction of $1,846,385.86. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 168,622 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,107,274.22. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 38,086 shares of company stock valued at $2,056,992. Company insiders own 40.95% of the company’s stock.

Sonic Automotive Stock Up 0.5 %

SAH stock opened at $52.70 on Tuesday. Sonic Automotive, Inc. has a 12 month low of $39.02 and a 12 month high of $62.26. The firm has a market cap of $1.79 billion, a PE ratio of -38.75 and a beta of 1.83. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $48.40 and a 200 day simple moving average of $47.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.21, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 0.40.

Sonic Automotive (NYSE:SAH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 26th. The company reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.80 by $0.22. Sonic Automotive had a negative net margin of 0.36% and a positive return on equity of 32.73%. The company had revenue of $3.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.55 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.23 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Sonic Automotive, Inc. will post 6.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sonic Automotive Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 12th. Investors of record on Friday, December 15th will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.28%. This is a positive change from Sonic Automotive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 14th. Sonic Automotive’s payout ratio is presently -85.29%.

Sonic Automotive 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.