Picton Mahoney Asset Management Purchases New Position in Sonic Automotive, Inc. $SAH

Picton Mahoney Asset Management acquired a new position in Sonic Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:SAH) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 10,231 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $779,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Sonic Automotive by 124.9% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 355,328 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,239,000 after buying an additional 197,336 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Sonic Automotive by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,646,450 shares of the company’s stock worth $125,278,000 after acquiring an additional 96,836 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sonic Automotive during the 2nd quarter valued at about $6,564,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its stake in shares of Sonic Automotive by 79.2% in the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 126,740 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,130,000 after purchasing an additional 56,027 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in Sonic Automotive by 209.0% during the second quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 67,687 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,410,000 after purchasing an additional 45,784 shares in the last quarter. 46.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Sonic Automotive Stock Performance

NYSE:SAH opened at $61.42 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.91. Sonic Automotive, Inc. has a twelve month low of $52.00 and a twelve month high of $89.62. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $62.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $67.81. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80.

Sonic Automotive (NYSE:SAH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The company reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $3.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.94 billion. Sonic Automotive had a net margin of 0.78% and a return on equity of 21.54%. The firm’s revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.51 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Sonic Automotive, Inc. will post 6.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sonic Automotive Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.38 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. Sonic Automotive’s payout ratio is 44.84%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SAH has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Barclays set a $67.00 target price on Sonic Automotive in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Sonic Automotive from $70.00 to $67.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Sonic Automotive in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 price target on shares of Sonic Automotive in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Sonic Automotive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, January 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $77.50.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Paul P. Rusnak purchased 11,481 shares of Sonic Automotive stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $59.95 per share, for a total transaction of $688,285.95. Following the acquisition, the insider directly owned 5,100,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $305,745,000. The trade was a 0.23% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Over the last three months, insiders acquired 100,000 shares of company stock valued at $5,994,472. 42.65% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.