Brokerages Set Sonic Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:SAH) Price Target at $77.86

Shares of Sonic Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:SAH) have earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eight brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $77.8571.

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on SAH shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $72.00 target price (up from $65.00) on shares of Sonic Automotive in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Sonic Automotive in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $64.00 target price on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Sonic Automotive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, June 21st. Stephens lowered shares of Sonic Automotive from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $72.00 to $82.00 in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Benchmark raised their target price on shares of Sonic Automotive from $76.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 25th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, President Jeff Dyke sold 576 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.02, for a total value of $40,331.52. Following the sale, the president directly owned 605,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,389,617.86. This trade represents a 0.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders sold 50,000 shares of company stock valued at $3,502,062 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 42.65% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sonic Automotive

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of SAH. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC bought a new position in Sonic Automotive in the fourth quarter valued at about $252,000. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in Sonic Automotive by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 20,596 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,305,000 after purchasing an additional 390 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. raised its position in Sonic Automotive by 47.7% in the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 9,248 shares of the company’s stock valued at $586,000 after purchasing an additional 2,986 shares during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in Sonic Automotive in the fourth quarter valued at about $185,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Sonic Automotive by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,557,344 shares of the company’s stock valued at $98,658,000 after purchasing an additional 20,058 shares during the last quarter. 46.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Sonic Automotive Price Performance

Shares of SAH opened at $74.40 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.78, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a current ratio of 1.03. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $78.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $69.91. Sonic Automotive has a 52-week low of $52.00 and a 52-week high of $89.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.54 billion, a PE ratio of 16.53 and a beta of 0.99.

Sonic Automotive (NYSE:SAH) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The company reported $2.19 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.63 by $0.56. Sonic Automotive had a return on equity of 21.40% and a net margin of 1.07%. The firm had revenue of $3.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.66 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.47 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Sonic Automotive will post 6.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sonic Automotive Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. This is a boost from Sonic Automotive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. Sonic Automotive’s payout ratio is 31.11%.

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.