Sonic Automotive (NYSE:SAH) Stock Crosses Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average – Here’s What Happened

Sonic Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:SAH) passed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Tuesday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $76.90 and traded as high as $79.31. Sonic Automotive shares last traded at $77.85, with a volume of 278,996 shares.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on SAH shares. Morgan Stanley lowered Sonic Automotive from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $72.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Friday, August 7th. Seaport Research Partners downgraded Sonic Automotive from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $185.00 to $205.00 in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Citigroup upped their target price on Sonic Automotive from $95.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Bank of America increased their price target on Sonic Automotive from $91.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Sonic Automotive from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $97.33.

Sonic Automotive Stock Up 2.0%

The firm has a market capitalization of $2.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.88. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $87.51 and its 200 day moving average price is $77.03.

Sonic Automotive (NYSE:SAH) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.07. Sonic Automotive had a return on equity of 20.75% and a net margin of 1.37%.The firm had revenue of $3.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.78 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.19 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Sonic Automotive, Inc. will post 6.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sonic Automotive Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.41 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Sonic Automotive’s payout ratio is 26.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, President Jeff Dyke sold 35,114 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.22, for a total value of $2,992,415.08. Following the sale, the president owned 543,668 shares in the company, valued at $46,331,386.96. This represents a 6.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 100,000 shares of company stock valued at $8,408,160 in the last 90 days. 43.68% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Sonic Automotive

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its holdings in shares of Sonic Automotive by 992.5% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 437 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 397 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI purchased a new stake in Sonic Automotive in the third quarter valued at $78,000. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in Sonic Automotive in the second quarter valued at $88,000. State of Wyoming acquired a new stake in Sonic Automotive during the 1st quarter worth about $79,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Sonic Automotive during the 2nd quarter valued at about $168,000. 46.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.