Sonic Automotive (NYSE:SAH) Shares Down 4% – What’s Next?

Shares of Sonic Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:SAH) traded down 4% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $70.07 and last traded at $69.81. 78,804 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 71% from the average session volume of 275,168 shares. The stock had previously closed at $72.69.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on SAH shares. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Sonic Automotive from $90.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Sonic Automotive from $92.00 to $87.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Bank of America raised their price target on Sonic Automotive from $91.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Seaport Research Partners lowered Sonic Automotive from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $185.00 to $205.00 in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on Sonic Automotive from $95.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sonic Automotive currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $97.33.

Sonic Automotive Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $2.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.86. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $85.94 and a 200 day simple moving average of $78.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.88.

Sonic Automotive (NYSE:SAH) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $3.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.78 billion. Sonic Automotive had a net margin of 1.37% and a return on equity of 20.75%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.19 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Sonic Automotive, Inc. will post 6.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sonic Automotive Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be given a $0.41 dividend. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 15th. Sonic Automotive’s payout ratio is 26.16%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Heartland Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Sonic Automotive during the first quarter worth $8,450,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in shares of Sonic Automotive by 70.8% in the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 181,189 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,208,000 after acquiring an additional 75,125 shares in the last quarter. Denali Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sonic Automotive during the second quarter valued at $4,799,000. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in Sonic Automotive by 64.4% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 131,302 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,003,000 after purchasing an additional 51,420 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Sonic Automotive by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,313,857 shares of the company’s stock valued at $90,088,000 after purchasing an additional 48,599 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 46.92% of the company’s stock.

About Sonic Automotive

Sonic Automotive, Inc is an automotive retailer headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. The company operates franchised dealerships that sell new and pre-owned vehicles from a range of automobile manufacturers, along with replacement parts, vehicle maintenance and repair services, financing, insurance products and other related offerings.

Sonic also operates EchoPark Automotive, a retail platform focused primarily on high-quality pre-owned vehicles. Through its dealership and EchoPark operations, the company provides vehicle purchasing, trade-in, financing and service options to consumers.

Founded in 1997, Sonic Automotive serves customers through locations across the United States.