Sonic Automotive (SAH)

• Market cap: $2.15B
• 1 day: -0.08%
• 5 days: -4.55%
• 1 month: 2.14%
• 3 months: 9.34%
• 6 months: 13.64%
• Year to date: 12.24%
• 1 year: 15.24%
• 5 years: 98.11%
• 10 years: 131.19%
• Sector: Consumer Discretionary
• Industry: Auto Dealers & Gasoline Stations

About: Sonic Automotive is one of the largest auto dealership groups in the United States. The company has 108 franchised stores in 18 states, primarily in metropolitan areas in California, Texas, and the Southeast, plus 25 EchoPark used-vehicle stores, 16 collision centers, and 13 powersports locations. The franchise stores derive revenue from new and used vehicles plus parts and collision repair, finance, insurance, and wholesale auctions. Luxury and import dealerships make up about 86% of franchise new-vehicle revenue, while Honda, BMW, Mercedes, and Toyota constitute about 58% of new-vehicle revenue. BMW is the largest brand at about 25%. 2023's revenue was $14.4 billion, with EchoPark's portion totaling $2.4 billion. Sonic bought RFJ Auto in December 2021, which added $3.2 billion in sales.

Employees: 10,500

Fund manager confidence

Based on 2024 Q3 regulatory filings by fund managers ($100M+ AUM)

445% more call options, than puts

Call options by funds: $795K | Put options by funds: $146K

5% more capital invested

Capital invested by funds: $859M [Q2] → $902M (+$43.5M) [Q3]

1.22% less ownership

Funds ownership: 72.11% [Q2] → 70.89% (-1.22%) [Q3]

2% less funds holding

Funds holding: 192 [Q2] → 188 (-4) [Q3]

14% less first-time investments, than exits

New positions opened: 24 | Existing positions closed: 28

37% less repeat investments, than reductions

Existing positions increased: 52 | Existing positions reduced: 83

Research analyst outlook

4 Wall Street Analysts provided 1 year price targets over the past 3 months

• Low target: $58 8% downside
• Avg. target: $68 8% upside
• High target: $74 17% upside

4 analyst ratings

• positive: 3 75%
• neutral: 1 25%
• negative: 0 0%

Seaport Global Glenn Chin 20% 1-year accuracy 1 / 5 met price target	17% upside $74	Buy Upgraded	22 Nov 2024
Needham Chris Pierce 52% 1-year accuracy 33 / 64 met price target	17% upside $74	Buy Maintained	25 Oct 2024
B of A Securities John Murphy 57% 1-year accuracy 24 / 42 met price target	5% upside $66	Buy Maintained	14 Oct 2024
Morgan Stanley Adam Jonas 56% 1-year accuracy 33 / 59 met price target	8% downside $58	Equal-Weight Upgraded	25 Sept 2024