Sonic Automotive (NYSE:SAH) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.09 EPS

Sonic Automotive (NYSE:SAH) released its quarterly earnings data on Monday. The company reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.38 by $0.09, Briefing.com reports. The company had revenue of $3.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.56 billion. Sonic Automotive had a net margin of 1.21% and a return on equity of 27.46%. Sonic Automotive’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.83 EPS.

Sonic Automotive Stock Up 2.4 %

NYSE SAH traded up $1.36 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $58.93. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,602 shares, compared to its average volume of 206,404. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $56.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $54.72. Sonic Automotive has a twelve month low of $41.19 and a twelve month 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 firm has a market capitalization of $2.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.79 and a beta of 1.61.

Sonic Automotive Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Sonic Automotive

In other Sonic Automotive news, President Jeff Dyke sold 15,000 shares of Sonic Automotive stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.76, for a total transaction of $851,400.00. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 161,622 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,173,664.72. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Sonic Automotive news, President Jeff Dyke sold 15,000 shares of Sonic Automotive stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.76, for a total transaction of $851,400.00. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 161,622 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,173,664.72. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO David Bruton Smith sold 67,703 shares of Sonic Automotive 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 $34,067,845.22. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 163,514 shares of company stock valued at $9,625,454. 40.95% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on SAH. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Sonic Automotive from $68.00 to $67.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company 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 lifted their price objective for the company from $58.00 to $63.00 in a research note on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $58.00.

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.