Squarepoint Ops LLC Lowers Holdings in Sonic Automotive, Inc. $SAH

Squarepoint Ops LLC trimmed its holdings in Sonic Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:SAH) by 65.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 53,885 shares of the company’s stock after selling 100,363 shares during the quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC’s holdings in Sonic Automotive were worth $4,569,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of SAH. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of Sonic Automotive by 9,481.6% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 1,318,145 shares of the company’s stock worth $111,766,000 after buying an additional 1,304,388 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Sonic Automotive by 3.8% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,313,857 shares of the company’s stock worth $90,088,000 after acquiring an additional 48,599 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in Sonic Automotive by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 701,133 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,623,000 after acquiring an additional 62,426 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Sonic Automotive by 11.9% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 510,963 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,608,000 after acquiring an additional 54,455 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in Sonic Automotive by 20.5% in the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 383,117 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,151,000 after acquiring an additional 65,266 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 46.92% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Seaport Research Partners cut shares of Sonic Automotive from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $185.00 to $205.00 in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley lowered Sonic Automotive from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $72.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Friday, August 7th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Sonic Automotive from $90.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Sonic Automotive from $91.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Sonic Automotive from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $97.33.

Sonic Automotive Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of SAH opened at $76.03 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.40 billion, a PE ratio of 12.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 0.86. The company’s fifty day moving average is $86.68 and its 200 day moving average is $77.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.88, a quick ratio of 0.25 and a current ratio of 1.01. Sonic Automotive, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $54.11 and a fifty-two week high of $113.67.

Sonic Automotive (NYSE:SAH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.07. Sonic Automotive had a net margin of 1.37% and a return on equity of 20.75%. The business had revenue of $3.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.78 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.19 earnings per share. Sonic Automotive’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Sonic Automotive, Inc. will post 6.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sonic Automotive Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be issued a $0.41 dividend. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 15th. Sonic Automotive’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.16%.

Sonic Automotive Profile

Sonic Automotive, Inc is an automotive retailer headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. The company operates franchised dealerships that sell new and pre-owned vehicles from a range of automobile manufacturers, along with replacement parts, vehicle maintenance and repair services, financing, insurance products and other related offerings.

Sonic also operates EchoPark Automotive, a retail platform focused primarily on high-quality pre-owned vehicles. Through its dealership and EchoPark operations, the company provides vehicle purchasing, trade-in, financing and service options to consumers.

Founded in 1997, Sonic Automotive serves customers through locations across the United States.