Sonic Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:SAH) CEO Sells $3,955,886.29 in Stock

Sonic Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:SAH) CEO David Bruton Smith sold 67,703 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.43, for a total value of $3,955,886.29. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 583,054 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,067,845.22. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

David Bruton Smith also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, May 7th, David Bruton Smith sold 21 shares of Sonic Automotive stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.49, for a total value of $1,228.29.
• On Monday, April 29th, David Bruton Smith sold 3,861 shares of Sonic Automotive stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.43, for a total value of $237,181.23.

Sonic Automotive Price Performance

SAH traded up $0.43 during trading on Thursday, reaching $58.47. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 338,089 shares, compared to its average volume of 226,817. The company has a market cap of $1.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.99 and a beta of 1.75. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $53.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $52.81. Sonic Automotive, Inc. has a 1 year low of $39.02 and a 1 year high of $64.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.11.

Sonic Automotive (NYSE:SAH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.30 by $0.06. Sonic Automotive had a return on equity of 27.46% and a net margin of 1.21%. The company had revenue of $3.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.45 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.33 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Sonic Automotive, Inc. will post 5.77 EPS for the current year.

Sonic Automotive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. Sonic Automotive’s payout ratio is presently 24.59%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SAH. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Sonic Automotive during the 4th quarter worth $31,473,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Sonic Automotive by 1,841.9% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 301,526 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,401,000 after purchasing an additional 285,999 shares during the period. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Sonic Automotive by 705.8% in the 3rd quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 67,086 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,204,000 after purchasing an additional 58,761 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in Sonic Automotive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,770,000. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new position in Sonic Automotive during the fourth quarter worth $1,724,000. 46.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. TheStreet upgraded shares of Sonic Automotive from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Sonic Automotive from $48.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. StockNews.com cut Sonic Automotive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Sonic Automotive from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Finally, Bank of America raised Sonic Automotive from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $55.00 to $68.00 in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Sonic Automotive currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $56.60.

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.