Sonic Automotive (NYSE:SAH) Upgraded to Buy at Bank of America

Bank of America upgraded shares of Sonic Automotive (NYSE:SAH) from an underperform rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Friday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm currently has $68.00 price objective on the stock, up from their prior price objective of $55.00.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on SAH. StockNews.com downgraded Sonic Automotive from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. TheStreet upgraded Sonic Automotive from a c+ rating to a b rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Sonic Automotive from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an underweight rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sonic Automotive presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $56.00.

Sonic Automotive Trading Up 10.0 %

Shares of SAH stock opened at $62.35 on Friday. Sonic Automotive has a 1 year low of $39.02 and a 1 year high of $64.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.10, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 0.41. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $52.53 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $52.00. The company has a market cap of $2.12 billion, a PE ratio of 12.78 and a beta of 1.82.

Sonic Automotive (NYSE:SAH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.23 by $0.13. Sonic Automotive had a return on equity of 27.69% and a net margin of 1.21%. The business had revenue of $3.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.45 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.33 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Sonic Automotive will post 5.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Sonic Automotive Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.92%. Sonic Automotive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.59%.

Institutional Trading of Sonic Automotive

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC bought a new stake in Sonic Automotive during the 1st quarter valued at $30,000. TFO Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in Sonic Automotive by 35,366.7% during the 4th quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,128 shares of the company’s stock valued at $120,000 after acquiring an additional 2,122 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sonic Automotive in the 3rd quarter worth $135,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its position in shares of Sonic Automotive by 16.6% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 3,132 shares of the company’s stock worth $176,000 after purchasing an additional 447 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sonic Automotive in the 4th quarter worth $185,000. Institutional investors own 46.92% of the company’s stock.

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.