Oracle Alpha Inc. Invests $410,000 in Sonic Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:SAH)

Oracle Alpha Inc. bought a new stake in Sonic Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:SAH) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 7,296 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $410,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SAH. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sonic Automotive in the 4th quarter valued at $795,000. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. purchased a new position in Sonic Automotive in the fourth quarter valued at $31,473,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in Sonic Automotive by 125.4% in the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 43,175 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,427,000 after buying an additional 24,021 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lifted its holdings in Sonic Automotive by 2,718.9% during the 3rd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 29,880 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,427,000 after buying an additional 28,820 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp acquired a new position in shares of Sonic Automotive during the 4th quarter worth about $218,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 46.92% of the company’s stock.

Sonic Automotive Price Performance

SAH stock opened at $56.19 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.11. The company has a market capitalization of $1.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.51 and a beta of 1.71. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $55.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $54.08. Sonic Automotive, Inc. has a twelve month low of $41.19 and a twelve month high of $64.68.

Sonic Automotive (NYSE:SAH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.30 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $3.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.45 billion. Sonic Automotive had a net margin of 1.21% and a return on equity of 27.46%. Sonic Automotive’s quarterly revenue was down 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.33 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Sonic Automotive, Inc. will post 5.86 EPS for the current year.

Sonic Automotive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. Sonic Automotive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sonic Automotive

In other Sonic Automotive news, CEO David Bruton Smith sold 67,703 shares of Sonic Automotive stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.43, for a total value of $3,955,886.29. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 583,054 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,067,845.22. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Sonic Automotive news, CEO David Bruton Smith sold 67,703 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.43, for a total transaction of $3,955,886.29. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 583,054 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,067,845.22. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, President Jeff Dyke sold 15,000 shares of Sonic Automotive stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.76, for a total transaction of $851,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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. Insiders sold a total of 147,569 shares of company stock valued at $8,674,244 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 40.95% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Sonic Automotive from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Sonic Automotive from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $55.00 to $68.00 in a research report on Friday, April 26th. TheStreet raised shares of Sonic Automotive from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Sonic Automotive from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $53.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Monday, June 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $57.60.

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.