Sonic Automotive (NYSE:SAH) Issues Earnings Results

Sonic Automotive (NYSE:SAH) announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday. The company reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.38 by $0.09, Briefing.com reports. The firm had revenue of $3.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.56 billion. Sonic Automotive had a net margin of 1.21% and a return on equity of 27.46%. The company’s revenue was down 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.83 EPS.

Sonic Automotive Trading Up 2.1 %

Shares of SAH stock traded up $1.23 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $58.80. 224,727 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 207,888. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $56.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $54.72. The firm has a market cap of $1.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.03 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.11, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a current ratio of 1.09. Sonic Automotive has a fifty-two week low of $41.19 and a fifty-two week high of $64.68.

Sonic Automotive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. Sonic Automotive’s payout ratio is 24.59%.

Insider Activity at Sonic Automotive

In other Sonic Automotive news, CFO Heath Byrd sold 2,480 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total value of $148,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 193,445 shares in the company, valued at $11,606,700. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Sonic Automotive news, CFO Heath Byrd sold 2,480 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total value of $148,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 193,445 shares in the company, valued at $11,606,700. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, President Jeff Dyke sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.76, for a total value of $851,400.00. Following the sale, the president now owns 161,622 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,173,664.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 163,514 shares of company stock worth $9,625,454 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 40.95% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Bank of America cut their price objective on Sonic Automotive from $68.00 to $67.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Sonic Automotive from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $58.00 to $63.00 in a research report on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $58.00.

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.