Sonic Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:SAH) Receives $53.40 Average Price Target from Analysts

Shares of Sonic Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:SAH - Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus rating of "Reduce" from the four analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $53.40.

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on SAH shares. TheStreet upgraded Sonic Automotive from a "c+" rating to a "b" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Sonic Automotive from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Sonic Automotive from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price objective on Sonic Automotive from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 29th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Sonic Automotive by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,312,003 shares of the company's stock valued at $98,283,000 after purchasing an additional 33,306 shares in the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Sonic Automotive by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 894,630 shares of the company's stock worth $48,614,000 after acquiring an additional 5,294 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Sonic Automotive by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 867,884 shares of the company's stock valued at $32,001,000 after purchasing an additional 17,772 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Sonic Automotive by 411.5% in the third quarter. Balyasny Asset Management LLC now owns 633,755 shares of the company's stock worth $27,442,000 after purchasing an additional 509,855 shares during the period. Finally, Macquarie Group Ltd. raised its holdings in Sonic Automotive by 2.3% in the first quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. now owns 578,674 shares of the company's stock worth $31,445,000 after purchasing an additional 13,092 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 46.92% of the company's stock.

Sonic Automotive Stock Performance

SAH traded up $0.55 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $48.61. The company had a trading volume of 205,416 shares, compared to its average volume of 213,308. Sonic Automotive has a 12-month low of $39.02 and a 12-month high of $60.24. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $52.72 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $51.64. The stock has a market cap of $1.65 billion, a PE ratio of 9.78 and a beta of 1.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.10, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 1.10.

Sonic Automotive (NYSE:SAH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The company reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.80 by ($0.17). The firm had revenue of $3.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.61 billion. Sonic Automotive had a return on equity of 28.06% and a net margin of 1.24%. The firm's revenue was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.61 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Sonic Automotive will post 5.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sonic Automotive Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.47%. Sonic Automotive's payout ratio is currently 24.14%.

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.