Denali Advisors LLC Purchases New Holdings in Sonic Automotive, Inc. $SAH

Denali Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Sonic Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:SAH) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 56,600 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,799,000. Denali Advisors LLC owned about 0.18% of Sonic Automotive as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in SAH. A&I Financial Services LLC increased its stake in Sonic Automotive by 0.9% during the second quarter. A&I Financial Services LLC now owns 11,755 shares of the company’s stock valued at $997,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Sonic Automotive by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 15,603 shares of the company’s stock valued at $965,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its position in shares of Sonic Automotive by 8.6% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 3,577 shares of the company’s stock worth $221,000 after acquiring an additional 284 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its position in shares of Sonic Automotive by 11.3% during the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,858 shares of the company’s stock worth $177,000 after acquiring an additional 291 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning lifted its position in Sonic Automotive by 12.4% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 3,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $228,000 after purchasing an additional 332 shares during the last quarter. 46.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Sonic Automotive news, President Jeff Dyke sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.97, for a total transaction of $4,148,500.00. Following the transaction, the president directly owned 111,622 shares in the company, valued at $9,261,277.34. This trade represents a 30.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 100,000 shares of company stock worth $8,408,160 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 43.68% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on SAH shares. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Sonic Automotive from $90.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on Sonic Automotive from $90.00 to $139.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Bank of America boosted their price target on Sonic Automotive from $91.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Seaport Research Partners downgraded shares of 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 report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Sonic Automotive from $95.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Sonic Automotive presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $97.33.

Sonic Automotive Price Performance

SAH stock opened at $78.77 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.88. Sonic Automotive, Inc. has a one year low of $54.11 and a one year high of $113.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.49 billion, a PE ratio of 12.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.86. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $88.33 and a two-hundred day moving average of $75.83.

Sonic Automotive (NYSE:SAH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $3.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.78 billion. Sonic Automotive had a return on equity of 20.75% and a net margin of 1.37%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.19 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Sonic Automotive, Inc. will post 6.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Sonic Automotive Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.41 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Sonic Automotive’s dividend payout ratio is 26.16%.

Sonic Automotive 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.