123,225 Shares in Sonic Automotive, Inc. $SAH Bought by Heartland Advisors Inc.

Heartland Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Sonic Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:SAH) in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 123,225 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,450,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in shares of Sonic Automotive by 37.1% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 13,946 shares of the company’s stock valued at $795,000 after buying an additional 3,777 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Sonic Automotive by 13.6% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 23,310 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,328,000 after acquiring an additional 2,793 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Sonic Automotive by 5.8% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 8,853 shares of the company’s stock worth $504,000 after acquiring an additional 483 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in Sonic Automotive by 124.9% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 355,328 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,239,000 after acquiring an additional 197,336 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its stake in Sonic Automotive by 15.8% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 38,698 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,204,000 after acquiring an additional 5,286 shares during the last quarter. 46.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Sonic Automotive

In other Sonic Automotive news, President Jeff Dyke sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.97, for a total value of $4,148,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president directly owned 111,622 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,261,277.34. This trade represents a 30.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 100,000 shares of company stock valued at $8,408,160. 43.68% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Sonic Automotive Price Performance

SAH stock opened at $100.34 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.93, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.29. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $83.66 and a 200 day simple moving average of $71.32. Sonic Automotive, Inc. has a 1 year low of $54.11 and a 1 year high of $104.30.

Sonic Automotive (NYSE:SAH) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $3.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.73 billion. Sonic Automotive had a net margin of 0.72% and a return on equity of 22.45%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.48 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Sonic Automotive, Inc. will post 6.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sonic Automotive Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th were issued a $0.41 dividend. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. This is a boost from Sonic Automotive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. Sonic Automotive’s payout ratio is currently 52.23%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SAH has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays upped their target price on Sonic Automotive from $77.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Citigroup lifted their price target on Sonic Automotive from $82.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Stephens set a $89.00 price target on Sonic Automotive in a report on Monday, July 13th. Seaport Research Partners downgraded Sonic Automotive from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $185.00 to $205.00 in a research report on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $72.00 price objective on Sonic Automotive in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Sonic Automotive presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $90.67.

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.