Towle & Co. Cuts Stock Position in Sonic Automotive, Inc. $SAH

Towle & Co. reduced its stake in Sonic Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:SAH) by 16.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 148,905 shares of the company’s stock after selling 30,005 shares during the period. Sonic Automotive accounts for 2.9% of Towle & Co.’s holdings, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Towle & Co. owned 0.44% of Sonic Automotive worth $11,330,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its position in Sonic Automotive by 992.5% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 437 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 397 shares in the last quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Sonic Automotive during the third quarter valued at approximately $109,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Sonic Automotive during the second quarter worth approximately $168,000. Entropy Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of Sonic Automotive in the 2nd quarter worth $208,000. Finally, Creative Planning acquired a new position in shares of Sonic Automotive during the second quarter valued at about $213,000. Institutional investors own 46.92% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sonic Automotive

In related news, major shareholder Paul P. Rusnak purchased 48,540 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $59.92 per share, for a total transaction of $2,908,516.80. Following the purchase, the insider directly owned 5,088,519 shares in the company, valued at approximately $304,904,058.48. This trade represents a 0.96% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Over the last ninety days, insiders have purchased 100,000 shares of company stock worth $5,994,472. 42.65% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Sonic Automotive Stock Performance

Shares of SAH opened at $66.56 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $62.61 and a 200 day moving average of $68.86. The company has a market capitalization of $2.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.63 and a beta of 0.93. Sonic Automotive, Inc. has a 12 month low of $52.00 and a 12 month high of $89.62. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68.

Sonic Automotive (NYSE:SAH) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The company reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.53 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $3.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.94 billion. Sonic Automotive had a net margin of 0.78% and a return on equity of 21.56%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.51 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Sonic Automotive, Inc. will post 6.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Sonic Automotive Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a $0.38 dividend. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. Sonic Automotive’s payout ratio is presently 44.84%.

Sonic Automotive News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Sonic Automotive this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Large insider accumulation — Major shareholder Paul P. Rusnak bought tens of thousands of shares in multiple transactions in February, raising his stake to roughly ~5.1M shares; repeated insider purchases at ~\$60 signal board-level confidence and likely supported buying interest. SEC Filing: Insider Purchases
• Positive Sentiment: Dividend declared — Sonic announced a quarterly dividend of $0.38/share (ex-dividend March 13; payable April 15), implying a ~2.4% yield and a ~41% payout ratio, which can attract income-focused investors and help support the share price.
• Positive Sentiment: Record gross profit highlighted — Management pointed to record gross profit in Q4, suggesting operational improvements that could underwrite margin recovery if sustained. Investing.com: Record Gross Profit
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings materials available — The Q4 call transcript and slides were posted for deeper review (F&I, EchoPark/used-vehicle trends and inventory commentary are areas analysts will parse for guidance changes). Earnings Call Transcript
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst views remain mixed — Needham reaffirmed a buy and a $90 target while Stephens trimmed its target to $67 and is at equal weight; mixed research keeps near-term consensus ambiguous and can amplify volatility. The Fly: PT Change
• Negative Sentiment: Slight Q4 miss and revenue pressure — Q4 EPS of $1.52 missed consensus by $0.01 and revenue of $3.87B trailed estimates (~$3.94B); revenue fell ~0.6% YoY and net margin remained thin, giving short-term bears ammunition about demand and margin durability. Zacks: Q4 Miss
• Negative Sentiment: Structural concerns flagged by analysts — Commentary and follow-up pieces note elevated debt levels, tariff exposure and margin risks that could cap the stock’s near-term upside absent clearer sales/margin improvement. Zacks: How to Approach Post-Q4

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Sonic Automotive in a report on Monday, December 29th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Sonic Automotive from $71.00 to $69.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Citigroup raised Sonic Automotive from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $82.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Sonic Automotive from $70.00 to $67.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $68.00 price objective on Sonic Automotive in a research note on Monday, December 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sonic Automotive has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $77.75.

About Sonic Automotive

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.