11,213 Shares in Sonic Automotive, Inc. $SAH Bought by Caxton Associates LLP

Key Points

• Caxton Associates LLP has acquired a new stake in Sonic Automotive, purchasing 11,213 shares valued at approximately $639,000 during the first quarter of the year.
• Sonic Automotive has announced an increase in its quarterly dividend to $0.38 per share, which will be paid on October 15th, signifying an annualized dividend yield of 1.8%.
• The company's last reported earnings showed an EPS of $2.19, exceeding analysts' expectations of $1.63, with revenue of $3.66 billion for the quarter.

Caxton Associates LLP purchased a new stake in Sonic Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:SAH - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 11,213 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $639,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. grew its holdings in Sonic Automotive by 26.2% in the 1st quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 641,237 shares of the company's stock valued at $36,525,000 after buying an additional 133,044 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in Sonic Automotive by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 476,107 shares of the company's stock valued at $30,161,000 after buying an additional 17,965 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Sonic Automotive by 124.9% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 355,328 shares of the company's stock valued at $20,239,000 after purchasing an additional 197,336 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Sonic Automotive by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 291,941 shares of the company's stock valued at $16,629,000 after purchasing an additional 808 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Sonic Automotive by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 128,835 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,162,000 after purchasing an additional 1,386 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 46.92% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on SAH. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $95.00 price objective on shares of Sonic Automotive in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Benchmark lifted their price objective on Sonic Automotive from $76.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Sonic Automotive from $60.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an "underweight" rating and set a $72.00 price target (up from $65.00) on shares of Sonic Automotive in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Sonic Automotive from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, June 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sonic Automotive presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $79.86.

Sonic Automotive Stock Down 1.4%

SAH stock traded down $1.10 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $78.75. 172,888 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 223,980. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.78. Sonic Automotive, Inc. has a 12-month low of $52.00 and a 12-month high of $89.62. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $79.92 and a 200-day moving average price of $71.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.50 and a beta of 0.98.

Sonic Automotive (NYSE:SAH - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The company reported $2.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.63 by $0.56. Sonic Automotive had a return on equity of 21.40% and a net margin of 1.07%.The business had revenue of $3.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.66 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.47 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Sonic Automotive, Inc. will post 6.14 EPS for the current year.

Sonic Automotive Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a $0.38 dividend. This is a positive change from Sonic Automotive's previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Sonic Automotive's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.78%.

About Sonic Automotive

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.