Ameriprise Financial Inc. Grows Holdings in Sonic Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:SAH)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Sonic Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:SAH - Free Report) by 5.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 111,738 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 5,358 shares during the quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned about 0.33% of Sonic Automotive worth $7,079,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of SAH. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Sonic Automotive in the 4th quarter valued at $244,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Sonic Automotive in the 4th quarter valued at $72,000. New York State Teachers Retirement System raised its position in Sonic Automotive by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 25,935 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,643,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Sonic Automotive by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 71,051 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,501,000 after purchasing an additional 2,212 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its position in Sonic Automotive by 54.4% in the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 45,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,851,000 after purchasing an additional 15,849 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 46.92% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Stephens upped their price objective on shares of Sonic Automotive from $83.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Sonic Automotive in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. They set a "neutral" rating and a $64.00 price objective for the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Sonic Automotive from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Sonic Automotive from $80.00 to $65.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC cut their price objective on shares of Sonic Automotive from $93.00 to $74.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $69.83.

Sonic Automotive Stock Performance

NYSE:SAH opened at $67.24 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75. Sonic Automotive, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $51.27 and a fifty-two week high of $76.78. The stock has a market cap of $2.28 billion, a PE ratio of 10.88 and a beta of 1.04. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $61.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $65.35.

Sonic Automotive (NYSE:SAH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.02. Sonic Automotive had a net margin of 1.52% and a return on equity of 19.96%. The business had revenue of $3.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.47 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.36 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Sonic Automotive, Inc. will post 6.14 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 Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.08%. Sonic Automotive's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.94%.

Sonic Automotive Company Profile

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.

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