Needham & Company LLC Reiterates “Buy” Rating for Sonic Automotive (NYSE:SAH)

Sonic Automotive (NYSE:SAH)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by research analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $74.00 price objective on the stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price target points to a potential upside of 8.21% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on SAH. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Sonic Automotive from $67.00 to $66.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 14th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Sonic Automotive from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $40.00 to $58.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Sonic Automotive from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $67.20.

Sonic Automotive Stock Performance

Shares of SAH stock opened at $68.39 on Thursday. Sonic Automotive has a one year low of $47.82 and a one year high of $70.88. The company’s 50-day moving average is $65.64 and its 200 day moving average is $60.39. The company has a market capitalization of $2.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.17 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a current ratio of 1.11.

Sonic Automotive (NYSE:SAH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $1.26 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.43 by ($0.17). Sonic Automotive had a net margin of 1.41% and a return on equity of 21.27%. The firm had revenue of $3.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.55 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.02 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Sonic Automotive will post 5.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sonic Automotive

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Sonic Automotive in the 4th quarter worth approximately $244,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Sonic Automotive by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 56,361 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,570,000 after purchasing an additional 978 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Sonic Automotive by 68.6% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 53,231 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,113,000 after purchasing an additional 21,650 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Sonic Automotive by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 9,643 shares of the company’s stock worth $530,000 after acquiring an additional 609 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its stake in Sonic Automotive by 346.1% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 24,413 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,427,000 after acquiring an additional 18,940 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 46.92% of the company’s stock.

Sonic Automotive Company 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.