Sonic Automotive (NYSE:SAH) Given New $96.00 Price Target at Needham & Company LLC

Posted by Geri Gentry on Oct 30th, 2026

Sonic Automotive (NYSE:SAH – Get Free Report) had its price objective reduced by investment analysts at Needham & Company LLC from $139.00 to $96.00 in a research note issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the stock. Needham & Company LLC‘s target price would suggest a potential upside of 51.24% from the stock’s current price.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Sonic Automotive from $91.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Weiss Ratings cut Sonic Automotive from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Sonic Automotive from $72.00 to $64.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 6th. Seaport Research Partners lowered shares of Sonic Automotive from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $185.00 to $205.00 in a report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Sonic Automotive from $107.00 to $74.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sonic Automotive has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $84.75.

View Our Latest Stock Report on Sonic Automotive

Sonic Automotive Stock Up 0.6%

SAH stock opened at $63.48 on Friday. Sonic Automotive has a twelve month low of $54.11 and a twelve month high of $113.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.88. The company has a market cap of $2.01 billion, a PE ratio of 10.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.92. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $68.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $73.09.

Sonic Automotive (NYSE:SAH – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The company reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.66 by ($0.36). Sonic Automotive had a net margin of 1.37% and a return on equity of 20.75%. The firm had revenue of $3.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.41 EPS. The company’s revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Sonic Automotive will post 6.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Paul P. Rusnak bought 27,756 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $59.76 per share, with a total value of $1,658,698.56. Following the acquisition, the insider owned 5,149,401 shares in the company, valued at approximately $307,728,203.76. This represents a 0.54% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Over the last ninety days, insiders purchased 76,776 shares of company stock valued at $4,584,694. Corporate insiders own 43.68% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Sonic Automotive

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State of Wyoming acquired a new position in Sonic Automotive in the third quarter valued at about $153,000. Inspire Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Sonic Automotive by 30.0% during the third quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 10,442 shares of the company’s stock worth $630,000 after buying an additional 2,412 shares in the last quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Sonic Automotive by 15.5% during the third quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 1,550 shares of the company’s stock worth $94,000 after buying an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new position in shares of Sonic Automotive in the second quarter valued at approximately $373,000. Finally, Ameritas Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Sonic Automotive in the second quarter valued at approximately $88,000. 46.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Sonic Automotive

Here are the key news stories impacting Sonic Automotive this week:

Positive Sentiment: Sonic Automotive declared a quarterly dividend of $0.41 per share, payable January 15, 2027, to shareholders of record on December 15. The annualized dividend is $1.64 per share, representing an approximately 2.6% yield and signaling continued shareholder returns. Dividend announcement
Neutral Sentiment: Third-quarter revenue was $3.99 billion, up just 0.4% year over year but slightly below the $4.03 billion analyst consensus. Investors may view the limited growth as evidence of a challenging automotive retail environment. Third-quarter earnings results
Negative Sentiment: Adjusted earnings came in at $1.30 per share, missing the $1.66 consensus estimate by $0.36 and declining from $1.41 in the prior-year quarter. The larger-than-expected earnings miss is the main reason the stock has decreased and prompted reports highlighting the post-earnings decline. Q3 earnings miss
Negative Sentiment: Profitability remains relatively thin, with a reported 1.37% net margin. Combined with revenue growth of less than 1% and the earnings decline, this may reinforce concerns about margin pressure and near-term operating performance. Shares fall after Q3 miss

About Sonic Automotive

(Get Free Report)

Sonic Automotive, Inc is a U.S.-based 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 related automotive products and services.

Its dealership operations provide vehicle financing and insurance products, maintenance and repair services, replacement parts, and collision-repair services. Sonic Automotive also operates EchoPark Automotive, a used-vehicle business focused on offering pre-owned vehicles and related finance and service products through dedicated retail locations.

Founded in 1997 by automotive entrepreneur O.