Sei Investments Co. Has $1.41 Million Stock Position in Sonic Automotive, Inc. $SAH

Sei Investments Co. lowered its holdings in shares of Sonic Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:SAH) by 43.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,579 shares of the company’s stock after selling 15,949 shares during the quarter. Sei Investments Co.’s holdings in Sonic Automotive were worth $1,411,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of SAH. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in Sonic Automotive by 70.8% during the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Sonic Automotive in the first quarter worth about $8,450,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 48,599 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Sonic Automotive by 80.5% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 37,576 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,577,000 after acquiring an additional 16,753 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in shares of Sonic Automotive during the 1st quarter valued at about $453,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 46.92% of the company’s stock.

Sonic Automotive Trading Down 2.9%

Shares of Sonic Automotive stock opened at $80.09 on Tuesday. Sonic Automotive, Inc. has a 1 year low of $54.11 and a 1 year high of $113.67. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $88.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $74.94. The company has a market cap of $2.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.77, a PEG ratio of 1.32 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 earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.07. Sonic Automotive had a net margin of 1.37% and a return on equity of 20.75%. The firm had revenue of $3.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.78 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.19 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Sonic Automotive, Inc. will post 6.93 EPS 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 issued a dividend of $0.41 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Sonic Automotive’s payout ratio is presently 26.16%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on SAH. Weiss Ratings upgraded Sonic Automotive from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday. Zacks Research upgraded Sonic Automotive from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on shares of Sonic Automotive from $90.00 to $139.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Seaport Research Partners cut shares of Sonic Automotive from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $185.00 to $205.00 in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Sonic Automotive from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sonic Automotive has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $97.89.

Insider Activity at Sonic Automotive

In other news, President Jeff Dyke sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.97, for a total transaction of $4,148,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president owned 111,622 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,261,277.34. This represents a 30.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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 three months. 43.68% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Sonic Automotive

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.