Texas Permanent School Fund Corp Has $876,000 Stock Holdings in Sonic Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:SAH)

Texas Permanent School Fund Corp lifted its stake in shares of Sonic Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:SAH) by 23.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 16,091 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,083 shares during the quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp’s holdings in Sonic Automotive were worth $876,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Arizona State Retirement System grew its stake in Sonic Automotive by 10.8% during the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 4,324 shares of the company’s stock worth $236,000 after buying an additional 420 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 458 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sonic Automotive during the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sonic Automotive during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Sonic Automotive by 14.8% in the first quarter. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 9,354 shares of the company’s stock valued at $533,000 after acquiring an additional 1,205 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 46.92% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on SAH. Bank of America reduced their target price on Sonic Automotive from $68.00 to $67.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Stephens started coverage on Sonic Automotive in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $64.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Sonic Automotive from $63.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC initiated coverage on shares of Sonic Automotive in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $73.00 target price for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $63.50.

Sonic Automotive Price Performance

Shares of SAH opened at $57.56 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.04. The stock has a market cap of $1.95 billion, a PE ratio of 11.80 and a beta of 1.61. Sonic Automotive, Inc. has a 12-month low of $41.19 and a 12-month high of $64.68. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $58.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $56.08.

Sonic Automotive (NYSE:SAH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 5th. The company reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.38 by $0.09. Sonic Automotive had a return on equity of 25.31% and a net margin of 1.35%. The company had revenue of $3.45 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.56 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.83 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Sonic Automotive, Inc. will post 5.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sonic Automotive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.08%. Sonic Automotive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Heath Byrd sold 19,827 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total transaction of $1,189,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 173,618 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,417,080. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 40.95% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Sonic Automotive 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.