JPMorgan Chase & Co. Lowers Sonic Automotive (NYSE:SAH) Price Target to $72.00

Sonic Automotive (NYSE:SAH) had its price target dropped by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $76.00 to $72.00 in a note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “underweight” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price target indicates a potential downside of 17.76% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on the company. Citigroup boosted their price target on Sonic Automotive from $95.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Bank of America lifted their price target on Sonic Automotive from $91.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Sonic Automotive from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Sonic Automotive from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on Sonic Automotive from $90.00 to $139.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $97.89.

Sonic Automotive Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of SAH stock traded up $0.32 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $87.55. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 122,672 shares, compared to its average volume of 280,786. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $88.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $74.19. Sonic Automotive has a one year low of $54.11 and a one year high of $113.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.88.

Sonic Automotive (NYSE:SAH) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $3.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.78 billion. Sonic Automotive had a net margin of 1.37% and a return on equity of 20.75%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.19 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Sonic Automotive will post 6.96 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Sonic Automotive

In other news, President Jeff Dyke sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.97, for a total value of $4,148,500.00. Following the sale, the president directly owned 111,622 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,261,277.34. This trade represents a 30.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 100,000 shares of company stock valued at $8,408,160 in the last ninety days. 43.68% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of SAH. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Sonic Automotive by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,313,857 shares of the company’s stock worth $90,088,000 after buying an additional 48,599 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Sonic Automotive by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 701,133 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,623,000 after purchasing an additional 62,426 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Sonic Automotive by 11.9% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 510,963 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,608,000 after purchasing an additional 54,455 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in Sonic Automotive by 20.5% during the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 383,117 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,151,000 after purchasing an additional 65,266 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Sonic Automotive by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 375,034 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,204,000 after buying an additional 4,443 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 46.92% of the company’s stock.

Sonic Automotive Company Profile

Sonic Automotive, Inc is a publicly traded automotive retailer that operates a network of franchised new-car dealerships and used-vehicle dealerships across the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the company offers a range of services that include vehicle sales, leasing, finance and insurance products, service and parts, and collision repair. Sonic Automotive’s dealerships represent numerous major automotive brands, and the company also markets a broad selection of pre-owned vehicles under its own banner.

In addition to its core dealership operations, Sonic Automotive has developed digital retail capabilities that allow customers to research, shop and complete transactions online.