Sonic Automotive’s (SAH) Buy Rating Reiterated at Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC reiterated their buy rating on shares of Sonic Automotive (NYSE:SAH) in a research note released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $74.00 price target on the stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on SAH. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Sonic Automotive from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $40.00 to $58.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Sonic Automotive from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Bank of America cut their price objective on Sonic Automotive from $67.00 to $66.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sonic Automotive currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $67.20.

Sonic Automotive Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of SAH stock opened at $68.39 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. Sonic Automotive has a 1 year low of $47.82 and a 1 year high of $70.88. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $65.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $60.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.17 and a beta of 1.67.

Sonic Automotive (NYSE:SAH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $1.26 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.43 by ($0.17). Sonic Automotive had a return on equity of 21.27% and a net margin of 1.41%. The firm had revenue of $3.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.55 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.02 EPS. Sonic Automotive’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Sonic Automotive will post 5.6 EPS for the current year.

Sonic Automotive Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. This is a boost from Sonic Automotive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. Sonic Automotive’s payout ratio is currently 24.91%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sonic Automotive

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sonic Automotive in the fourth quarter worth about $244,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Sonic Automotive by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 56,361 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,570,000 after purchasing an additional 978 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Sonic Automotive by 68.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 53,231 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,113,000 after buying an additional 21,650 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Sonic Automotive by 6.7% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 9,643 shares of the company’s stock valued at $530,000 after buying an additional 609 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sonic Automotive by 346.1% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 24,413 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,427,000 after buying an additional 18,940 shares during the period. 46.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.