Sonic Automotive (NYSE:SAH – Get Free Report) was upgraded by investment analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note issued on Monday, Briefing.com reports. The brokerage presently has a $58.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $53.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 2.58% from the stock’s current price.
A number of other research firms have also recently commented on SAH. Bank of America raised Sonic Automotive from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $55.00 to $68.00 in a report on Friday, April 26th. TheStreet raised Sonic Automotive from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Sonic Automotive from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $57.60.
Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on SAH
Sonic Automotive Trading Down 1.4 %
Shares of NYSE:SAH opened at $56.54 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $55.36 and a 200 day moving average of $53.96. The company has a market cap of $1.92 billion, a PE ratio of 11.59 and a beta of 1.71. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.11. Sonic Automotive has a 12-month low of $41.19 and a 12-month high of $64.68.
Sonic Automotive (NYSE:SAH – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.36 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.30 by $0.06. Sonic Automotive had a return on equity of 27.46% and a net margin of 1.21%. The company had revenue of $3.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.45 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.33 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Sonic Automotive will post 5.86 EPS for the current year.
Insider Activity
In other Sonic Automotive news, CEO David Bruton Smith sold 3,861 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.43, for a total value of $237,181.23. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 583,054 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,817,007.22. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO David Bruton Smith sold 3,861 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.43, for a total transaction of $237,181.23. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 583,054 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,817,007.22. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, President Jeff Dyke sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.76, for a total value of $851,400.00. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 161,622 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,173,664.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 128,355 shares of company stock valued at $7,521,404. 42.64% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sonic Automotive
A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its stake in shares of Sonic Automotive by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 9,596 shares of the company’s stock worth $539,000 after purchasing an additional 315 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its stake in shares of Sonic Automotive by 16.6% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 3,132 shares of the company’s stock worth $176,000 after purchasing an additional 447 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Sonic Automotive by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 12,806 shares of the company’s stock worth $730,000 after purchasing an additional 458 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in Sonic Automotive in the first quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Aigen Investment Management LP raised its stake in Sonic Automotive by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP now owns 9,946 shares of the company’s stock valued at $559,000 after buying an additional 611 shares during the last quarter. 46.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
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.
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