JPMorgan Chase & Co. Boosts Holdings in Sonic Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:SAH)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Sonic Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:SAH) by 68.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 53,231 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 21,650 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned 0.16% of Sonic Automotive worth $3,113,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in Sonic Automotive by 3.8% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 456,588 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,870,000 after purchasing an additional 16,556 shares in the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its stake in shares of Sonic Automotive by 679.8% during the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 95,006 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,175,000 after buying an additional 82,823 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Sonic Automotive by 26.8% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 88,826 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,838,000 after buying an additional 18,800 shares during the period. Phocas Financial Corp. purchased a new stake in shares of Sonic Automotive in the third quarter valued at approximately $3,645,000. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Sonic Automotive by 124.7% during the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 55,383 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,239,000 after acquiring an additional 30,731 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 46.92% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SAH has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America reduced their target price on Sonic Automotive from $67.00 to $66.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Sonic Automotive from $75.00 to $74.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $74.00 target price on shares of Sonic Automotive in a research report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley upgraded 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 research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Sonic Automotive from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $67.20.

Sonic Automotive Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:SAH opened at $68.39 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. The company has a market capitalization of $2.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.17 and a beta of 1.67. Sonic Automotive, Inc. has a 52-week low of $47.82 and a 52-week high of $70.88. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $65.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $60.48.

Sonic Automotive (NYSE:SAH) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $1.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by ($0.17). The firm had revenue of $3.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.55 billion. Sonic Automotive had a net margin of 1.41% and a return on equity of 21.27%. Sonic Automotive’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.02 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Sonic Automotive, Inc. will post 5.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sonic Automotive Increases Dividend

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

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.