Legal & General Group Plc Raises Stock Position in Sonic Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:SAH)

Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in Sonic Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:SAH) by 7.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 42,401 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,967 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned about 0.12% of Sonic Automotive worth $2,686,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Sonic Automotive by 515.4% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 480 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 402 shares during the last quarter. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Sonic Automotive during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $72,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd boosted its position in shares of Sonic Automotive by 1,429.7% during the 4th quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd now owns 1,545 shares of the company’s stock valued at $98,000 after acquiring an additional 1,444 shares during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new position in shares of Sonic Automotive in the fourth quarter valued at $185,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in Sonic Automotive in the fourth quarter worth $244,000. Institutional investors own 46.92% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Stephens increased their price target on Sonic Automotive from $83.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Sonic Automotive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Sonic Automotive in a research note on Wednesday. They set a “neutral” rating and a $64.00 price target for the company. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price objective on shares of Sonic Automotive from $100.00 to $93.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Sonic Automotive from $80.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Sonic Automotive has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $73.00.

Sonic Automotive Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of Sonic Automotive stock opened at $59.08 on Thursday. Sonic Automotive, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $50.46 and a fifty-two week high of $76.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a current ratio of 1.09. The company has a market cap of $1.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.56 and a beta of 1.43. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $62.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $64.09.

Sonic Automotive (NYSE:SAH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.05. Sonic Automotive had a net margin of 1.52% and a return on equity of 19.96%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Sonic Automotive, Inc. will post 6.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sonic Automotive Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $1.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.37%. Sonic Automotive’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.65%.

Sonic Automotive 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.