XTX Topco Ltd Boosts Stock Holdings in Sonic Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:SAH)

XTX Topco Ltd grew its position in shares of Sonic Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:SAH) by 150.5% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 9,585 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,759 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd’s holdings in Sonic Automotive were worth $546,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SAH. Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its holdings in Sonic Automotive by 38.2% in the first quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 14,286 shares of the company’s stock worth $814,000 after purchasing an additional 3,952 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in Sonic Automotive by 266.1% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 14,096 shares of the company’s stock worth $803,000 after purchasing an additional 10,246 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Sonic Automotive by 6,802.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 11,734 shares of the company’s stock worth $668,000 after purchasing an additional 11,564 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Sonic Automotive by 52.1% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 80,957 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,129,000 after purchasing an additional 27,726 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Sonic Automotive by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,557,344 shares of the company’s stock worth $98,658,000 after purchasing an additional 20,058 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 46.92% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Sonic Automotive from $80.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 16th. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Sonic Automotive in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $64.00 target price on the stock. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $95.00 target price on shares of Sonic Automotive in a report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Sonic Automotive from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, June 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $72.00 price target (up from $65.00) on shares of Sonic Automotive in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $77.86.

Insider Activity at Sonic Automotive

In other news, President Jeff Dyke sold 576 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.02, for a total transaction of $40,331.52. Following the sale, the president directly owned 605,393 shares in the company, valued at $42,389,617.86. This trade represents a 0.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 50,000 shares of company stock worth $3,502,062. 42.65% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Sonic Automotive Stock Up 2.6%

SAH opened at $74.42 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.78. Sonic Automotive, Inc. has a 1-year low of $52.00 and a 1-year high of $89.62. The company has a market capitalization of $2.54 billion, a PE ratio of 16.54 and a beta of 0.99. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $78.22 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $69.83.

Sonic Automotive (NYSE:SAH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The company reported $2.19 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.63 by $0.56. The firm had revenue of $3.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.66 billion. Sonic Automotive had a net margin of 1.07% and a return on equity of 21.40%. The company’s revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.47 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Sonic Automotive, Inc. will post 6.14 EPS for the current year.

Sonic Automotive Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.38 per share. This represents a $1.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This is a positive change from Sonic Automotive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. Sonic Automotive’s payout ratio is 31.11%.

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.