Sonic Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:SAH) to Issue $0.30 Quarterly Dividend

Sonic Automotive, Inc. (NYSE:SAH) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, April 25th, Zacks reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a dividend of 0.30 per share on Monday, July 15th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th.

Sonic Automotive has increased its dividend payment by an average of 42.6% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 3 years. Sonic Automotive has a payout ratio of 18.4% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Sonic Automotive to earn $6.37 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 18.8%.

Sonic Automotive Stock Up 10.8 %

Shares of SAH opened at $56.66 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.93 billion, a PE ratio of 11.40 and a beta of 1.82. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.10. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $52.33 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $51.86. Sonic Automotive has a 12 month low of $39.02 and a 12 month high of $60.24.

Sonic Automotive (NYSE:SAH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.23 by $0.13. Sonic Automotive had a return on equity of 28.06% and a net margin of 1.24%. The company had revenue of $3.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.45 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.33 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Sonic Automotive will post 5.62 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on SAH shares. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Sonic Automotive from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. TheStreet raised Sonic Automotive from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Bank of America raised Sonic Automotive from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $55.00 to $68.00 in a report on Friday. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Sonic Automotive from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $56.00.

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.