Sonic Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:SAH) Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.35

Sonic Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:SAH) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, October 24th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of 0.35 per share on Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This is a boost from Sonic Automotive’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30.

Sonic Automotive has raised its dividend by an average of 42.6% annually over the last three years. Sonic Automotive has a payout ratio of 19.6% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Sonic Automotive to earn $6.12 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.20 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 19.6%.

Sonic Automotive Price Performance

SAH opened at $57.37 on Friday. Sonic Automotive has a 12-month low of $42.57 and a 12-month high of $64.68. The company has a market cap of $1.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.60 and a beta of 1.60. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $57.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $56.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.04.

Sonic Automotive (NYSE:SAH) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The company reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.38 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $3.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.56 billion. Sonic Automotive had a return on equity of 25.31% and a net margin of 1.35%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.83 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Sonic Automotive will post 5.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on SAH. Stephens assumed coverage on shares of Sonic Automotive in a report on Thursday, September 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $64.00 price objective for the company. Needham & Company LLC initiated coverage on Sonic Automotive in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $73.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Sonic Automotive from $67.00 to $66.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Sonic Automotive from $63.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of Sonic Automotive from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $40.00 to $58.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $66.33.

About Sonic Automotive

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.