Amalgamated Bank has recently decreased its stake in Sonic Automotive, Inc. by 13.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the latest Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm currently holds 5,348 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $301,000 at the close of the last quarter.
Other hedge funds have also adjusted their holdings of Sonic Automotive. For example, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings by 16.6% during the fourth quarter, owning 3,132 shares of the company’s stock worth $176,000. Additionally, Mackenzie Financial Corp acquired a new stake in Sonic Automotive during the 4th quarter, worth approximately $218,000.
Analyst Ratings Updates
Several equities research analysts have recently released reports on Sonic Automotive. Morgan Stanley, for example, raised their target price on shares of Sonic Automotive from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. On the other hand, TheStreet upgraded Sonic Automotive from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th.
Insider Trading Activities
In other Sonic Automotive news, CEO David Bruton Smith sold 41,770 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.27, for a total value of $2,475,707.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 583,054 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,557,610.58. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 113,355 shares of company stock valued at $6,670,004.
Stock Performance
Shares of Sonic Automotive stock opened at $57.34 on Wednesday. The company has a 12-month low of $40.26 and a 12-month high of $64.68. It has a market capitalization of $1.94 billion, a PE ratio of 11.75, and a beta of 1.75. Sonic Automotive last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th, with the company reporting $1.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.30 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $3.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.45 billion.
The company has also recently declared a quarterly dividend, with an ex-dividend date of June 14th and a payment date of July 15th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.09%.
In Conclusion
Sonic Automotive, Inc. continues to be a notable player in the automotive retail industry, despite recent changes in stakeholder position and internal trading. Analyst ratings and stock performance show a mixed but relatively optimistic outlook for the company. With the auto industry undergoing significant transformation, it will be interesting to see how Sonic Automotive navigates the road ahead.