Sonic Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:SAH) CEO David Bruton Smith Sells 67,703 Shares

Sonic Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:SAH) CEO David Bruton Smith sold 67,703 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.43, for a total transaction of $3,955,886.29. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 583,054 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,067,845.22. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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 stock was sold at an average price of $58.49, for a total transaction 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 transaction of $237,181.23.

Sonic Automotive Price Performance

SAH stock traded up $0.43 during trading on Thursday, hitting $58.47. 338,089 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 226,817. The stock has a market cap of $1.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.99 and a beta of 1.75. Sonic Automotive, Inc. has a one year low of $39.02 and a one year high of $64.68. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.11. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $53.53 and a 200 day simple moving average of $52.81.

Sonic Automotive (NYSE:SAH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.36 EPS 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 business had revenue of $3.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.45 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.33 EPS. Sonic Automotive’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Sonic Automotive, Inc. will post 5.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sonic Automotive Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sonic Automotive

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SAH. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System boosted its position in Sonic Automotive by 85.3% during the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 8,298 shares of the company’s stock worth $451,000 after purchasing an additional 3,820 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP boosted its holdings in shares of Sonic Automotive by 109.1% during the 1st quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 17,623 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,003,000 after buying an additional 9,193 shares during the period. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Sonic Automotive in the 1st quarter valued at about $515,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC bought a new position in Sonic Automotive in the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in Sonic Automotive by 14.8% during the first quarter. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 9,354 shares of the company’s stock worth $533,000 after acquiring an additional 1,205 shares during the last quarter. 46.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.