Sonic Automotive (NYSE:SAH) Stock Price Target Lowered at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Key Points

• JPMorgan cut Sonic Automotive’s price target from $63 to $58 and maintained an “underweight” rating, implying about 9% downside from the prior close.
• Analyst opinions remain mixed: MarketBeat’s consensus rating is “Hold,” with an average price target of $81.62; four analysts rate the stock Buy, three Hold, and three Sell.
• Sonic missed quarterly expectations, reporting EPS of $1.30 versus $1.66 expected and revenue of $3.99 billion versus $4.03 billion forecast. Shares nevertheless rose 5% on Wednesday to $63.73.

Sonic Automotive (NYSE:SAH - Get Free Report) had its target price decreased by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $63.00 to $58.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "underweight" rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s target price indicates a potential downside of 8.99% from the company's previous close.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on SAH. Needham & Company LLC decreased their target price on shares of Sonic Automotive from $139.00 to $96.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 30th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Sonic Automotive from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Monday, October 26th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Sonic Automotive from $91.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Sonic Automotive from $72.00 to $57.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 5th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Sonic Automotive from $107.00 to $74.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $81.62.

Sonic Automotive Trading Up 5.0%

NYSE:SAH traded up $3.05 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $63.73. 166,059 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 287,951. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 0.98. Sonic Automotive has a one year low of $54.11 and a one year high of $113.67. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $67.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $73.08. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.74.

Sonic Automotive (NYSE:SAH - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The company reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.66 by ($0.36). The company had revenue of $3.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. Sonic Automotive had a net margin of 1.33% and a return on equity of 20.05%. The company's quarterly revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.41 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Sonic Automotive will post 6.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Sonic Automotive news, major shareholder Paul P. Rusnak purchased 27,756 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, October 5th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $59.76 per share, for a total transaction of $1,658,698.56. Following the acquisition, the insider owned 5,149,401 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $307,728,203.76. This represents a 0.54% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In the last quarter, insiders purchased 76,776 shares of company stock worth $4,584,694. 43.68% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Heartland Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Sonic Automotive in the first quarter worth $8,450,000. Denali Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sonic Automotive during the second quarter valued at about $4,799,000. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in shares of Sonic Automotive by 64.4% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 131,302 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,003,000 after purchasing an additional 51,420 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position 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 purchasing an additional 48,599 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new stake in shares of Sonic Automotive in the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,951,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 46.92% of the company's stock.

About Sonic Automotive

Sonic Automotive, Inc is a U.S.-based 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 related automotive products and services.

Its dealership operations provide vehicle financing and insurance products, maintenance and repair services, replacement parts, and collision-repair services. Sonic Automotive also operates EchoPark Automotive, a used-vehicle business focused on offering pre-owned vehicles and related finance and service products through dedicated retail locations.

Founded in 1997 by automotive entrepreneur O.

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