Denali Advisors LLC Has $2.09 Million Position in Sonic Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:SAH)

Denali Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Sonic Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:SAH) by 32.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 36,700 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,900 shares during the quarter. Denali Advisors LLC’s holdings in Sonic Automotive were worth $2,090,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC bought a new position in Sonic Automotive during the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new position in shares of Sonic Automotive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,724,000. Oracle Alpha Inc. bought a new position in shares of Sonic Automotive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $410,000. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Sonic Automotive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,473,000. Finally, Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC bought a new position in shares of Sonic Automotive in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $795,000. 46.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO David Bruton Smith sold 67,703 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 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 through the SEC website. In other Sonic Automotive news, CEO David Bruton Smith sold 67,703 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 583,054 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,067,845.22. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, President Jeff Dyke sold 16,734 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.00, for a total value of $1,004,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 817,753 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $49,065,180. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 147,569 shares of company stock valued at $8,674,244 in the last ninety days. 42.64% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Sonic Automotive Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE:SAH traded down $0.05 on Wednesday, hitting $53.73. 54,650 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 209,167. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.03 and a beta of 1.62. Sonic Automotive, Inc. has a 52 week low of $41.19 and a 52 week high of $64.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.11, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a current ratio of 1.09. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $56.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $54.41.

Sonic Automotive (NYSE:SAH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.30 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $3.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.45 billion. Sonic Automotive had a return on equity of 27.46% and a net margin of 1.21%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.33 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Sonic Automotive, Inc. will post 5.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Sonic Automotive Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.23%. Sonic Automotive’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.59%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on SAH shares. TheStreet raised shares of Sonic Automotive from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Bank of America upgraded shares of 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Sonic Automotive from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $53.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Monday, June 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $57.60.

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.