Renaissance Technologies LLC Buys 9,100 Shares of Sonic Automotive, Inc. $SAH

Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in shares of Sonic Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:SAH) by 11.5% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 88,126 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,100 shares during the quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC’s holdings in Sonic Automotive were worth $6,043,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in Sonic Automotive by 70.8% during the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 181,189 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,208,000 after buying an additional 75,125 shares in the last quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Sonic Automotive in the first quarter valued at about $8,450,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Sonic Automotive by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,313,857 shares of the company’s stock worth $90,088,000 after purchasing an additional 48,599 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in Sonic Automotive during the 1st quarter valued at about $453,000. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Sonic Automotive by 22.3% in the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 94,898 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,870,000 after purchasing an additional 17,286 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 46.92% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on SAH. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Sonic Automotive from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Sonic Automotive from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Stephens set a $89.00 price objective on Sonic Automotive in a report on Monday, July 13th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Sonic Automotive from $90.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Sonic Automotive from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $97.89.

Insider Activity

In related news, President Jeff Dyke sold 35,114 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.22, for a total transaction of $2,992,415.08. Following the sale, the president directly owned 543,668 shares in the company, valued at $46,331,386.96. This trade represents a 6.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 100,000 shares of company stock worth $8,408,160 over the last ninety days. 43.68% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Sonic Automotive Stock Up 0.9%

NYSE:SAH opened at $88.05 on Wednesday. Sonic Automotive, Inc. has a 1 year low of $54.11 and a 1 year high of $113.67. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $88.92 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $74.37. The stock has a market cap of $2.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.04, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.88.

Sonic Automotive (NYSE:SAH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.07. Sonic Automotive had a return on equity of 20.75% and a net margin of 1.37%.The business had revenue of $3.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.78 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.19 EPS. Sonic Automotive’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Sonic Automotive, Inc. will post 7 earnings per share for the current year.

Sonic Automotive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.41 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Sonic Automotive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.16%.

Sonic Automotive Company Profile

Sonic Automotive, Inc is a publicly traded automotive retailer that operates a network of franchised new-car dealerships and used-vehicle dealerships across the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the company offers a range of services that include vehicle sales, leasing, finance and insurance products, service and parts, and collision repair. Sonic Automotive’s dealerships represent numerous major automotive brands, and the company also markets a broad selection of pre-owned vehicles under its own banner.

In addition to its core dealership operations, Sonic Automotive has developed digital retail capabilities that allow customers to research, shop and complete transactions online.