Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Raises Position in Sonic Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:SAH)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of Sonic Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:SAH) by 7.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 14,349 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 973 shares during the quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD’s holdings in Sonic Automotive were worth $910,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SAH. Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of Sonic Automotive by 346.1% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 24,413 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,427,000 after acquiring an additional 18,940 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Sonic Automotive by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 9,643 shares of the company’s stock worth $530,000 after purchasing an additional 609 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Sonic Automotive by 68.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 53,231 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,113,000 after purchasing an additional 21,650 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Sonic Automotive by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 56,361 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,570,000 after buying an additional 978 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sonic Automotive during the fourth quarter worth $244,000. 46.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on SAH shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Sonic Automotive from $80.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Stephens lifted their target price on Sonic Automotive from $83.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com upgraded Sonic Automotive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Sonic Automotive in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $64.00 price target for the company. Finally, Needham & Company LLC dropped their price objective on shares of Sonic Automotive from $93.00 to $74.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $69.83.

Sonic Automotive Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SAH opened at $64.90 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.50 and a beta of 1.04. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $60.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $64.74. Sonic Automotive, Inc. has a 12 month low of $51.27 and a 12 month high of $76.78.

Sonic Automotive (NYSE:SAH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $1.48 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $3.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.47 billion. Sonic Automotive had a net margin of 1.52% and a return on equity of 19.96%. The firm’s revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.36 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Sonic Automotive, Inc. will post 6.14 EPS for the current year.

Sonic Automotive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.16%. Sonic Automotive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.94%.

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.