Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC Increases Stock Position in Sonic Automotive, Inc. $SAH

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Sonic Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:SAH) by 30.3% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 94,468 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 21,960 shares during the quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Sonic Automotive were worth $7,551,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in shares of Sonic Automotive by 23.0% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 25,341 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,443,000 after purchasing an additional 4,745 shares in the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in Sonic Automotive during the 1st quarter worth about $1,940,000. Cetera Investment Advisers bought a new position in Sonic Automotive in the 1st quarter worth about $218,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC purchased a new position in Sonic Automotive during the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,202,000. Finally, Jump Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sonic Automotive during the first quarter valued at about $777,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 46.92% of the company’s stock.

Sonic Automotive Stock Up 3.7%

SAH opened at $62.00 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $70.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $74.64. Sonic Automotive, Inc. has a 52 week low of $52.00 and a 52 week high of $89.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. The stock has a market cap of $2.12 billion, a PE ratio of 16.76 and a beta of 0.91.

Sonic Automotive (NYSE:SAH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 23rd. The company reported $1.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82 by ($0.41). The firm had revenue of $3.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.59 billion. Sonic Automotive had a return on equity of 21.65% and a net margin of 0.86%.Sonic Automotive’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.26 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Sonic Automotive, Inc. will post 6.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sonic Automotive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be issued a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 15th. Sonic Automotive’s payout ratio is presently 41.08%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on SAH shares. Zacks Research lowered shares of Sonic Automotive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Sonic Automotive in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $71.00 price target for the company. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Sonic Automotive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, October 18th. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price objective on Sonic Automotive from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Finally, Benchmark boosted their target price on Sonic Automotive from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $80.75.

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.