New Age Alpha Advisors LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Sonic Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:SAH)

Key Points

• New Age Alpha Advisors LLC increased its stake in Sonic Automotive, owning 31,757 shares after a 53.5% increase, making the total value approximately $1.81 million.
• Sonic Automotive announced a quarterly dividend increase from $0.35 to $0.38 per share, with an annualized yield of 2.1%, to be paid on October 15th.
• On July 24th, Sonic Automotive beat earnings expectations with $2.19 EPS and reported a revenue of $3.66 billion, marking a 5.9% increase compared to the previous year.

New Age Alpha Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Sonic Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:SAH - Free Report) by 53.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 31,757 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 11,066 shares during the quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC owned 0.09% of Sonic Automotive worth $1,809,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new stake in shares of Sonic Automotive in the 4th quarter worth approximately $51,000. Mariner LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sonic Automotive during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $225,000. Cetera Investment Advisers bought a new stake in Sonic Automotive during the first quarter worth approximately $218,000. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new position in Sonic Automotive in the fourth quarter worth approximately $242,000. Finally, Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sonic Automotive in the fourth quarter worth approximately $261,000. 46.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Benchmark increased their target price on shares of Sonic Automotive from $76.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Sonic Automotive from $80.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, June 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an "underweight" rating and set a $72.00 price target (up previously from $65.00) on shares of Sonic Automotive in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Sonic Automotive from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, June 21st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $95.00 price objective on shares of Sonic Automotive in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $77.86.

Sonic Automotive Stock Performance

Sonic Automotive stock traded up $2.41 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $77.72. The company had a trading volume of 53,354 shares, compared to its average volume of 228,511. The firm has a market cap of $2.65 billion, a PE ratio of 17.28 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.78, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.24. Sonic Automotive, Inc. has a one year low of $52.00 and a one year high of $89.62. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $78.48 and a 200 day moving average of $69.94.

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

Sonic Automotive Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This is a boost from Sonic Automotive's previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Sonic Automotive's payout ratio is presently 31.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sonic Automotive

In other Sonic Automotive news, President Jeff Dyke sold 576 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.02, for a total value of $40,331.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the president directly owned 605,393 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,389,617.86. This trade represents a 0.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders have sold a total of 50,000 shares of company stock worth $3,502,062 over the last quarter. Insiders own 42.65% of the company's stock.

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.