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Sonic Automotive, Inc.

  • This Dealership is Outgrowing the Competition

    By Ted Cooper - May 17, 2013 | Tickers: AN, KMX, SAH

    The slow-but-upward climb of the United States economy has lifted domestic automobile sales along with the auto industry's top line. The recent increase in auto sales is likely due to consumer deleveraging during the Great Recession; with cleaner balance sheets and rising income, consumers can finally afford to buy new cars again.

    Although General Motors, Ford, and even Tesla Motors will undoubtedly benefit from the increase in auto sales more »

  • Will Ricky Sandler’s Hot Streak Continue with This Automotive Stock?

    By Meena Krishnamsetty - May 6, 2013 | Tickers: ABG, AN, LAD, PAG, SAH

    Eminence Capital, managed by Ricky Sandler, is coming off a year of excellent returns; ValueWalk named it as one of the 30 best performing hedge funds out of those it tracks (and many of the funds that performed better were focused on mortgages or real estate). Now, the fund has reported a position of 1.7 million shares in Asbury Automotive (NYSE: ABG), a $1.2 billion market cap auto more »

  • Value at the End of the Supply Chain

    By Ted Cooper - March 27, 2013 | Tickers: GPI, PAG, SAH

    While Ford and General Motors are getting a lot of attention due to a recovering auto industry, investors would be wise to look a little further down the line at the auto dealerships.

    Publicly-traded auto dealerships invariably use a roll-up strategy, in which they acquire individual dealerships and improve profitability through economies of scale. Although most revenues come from selling vehicles, the most lucrative part of an auto dealership more »

  • Don’t Be Fooled by Sonic Automotive’s Delayed SEC Filing

    By Jacob Wolinsky - March 22, 2013 | Tickers: AN, PAG, SAH

    In a surprising move, Sonic Automotive (NYSE: SAH) filed an application with the Securities and Exchange Commission seeking more time for filing its annual report. Usually, companies follow this route in the event of material impact of an acquisition or other similar development on the finances. It was thus natural for the market to get unnerved by the notice of late filing and the stock lost as much as 8 more »

  • This Car Dealership Has a Long Runway for Growth

    By Ted Cooper - February 19, 2013 | Tickers: AN, KMX, GM, SAH, TRK

    According to Reuters, U.S. auto sales increased 14% last month in a continuation of an impressive recovery since the financial crisis crippled the industry in 2008. There is a lot of pent-up demand for new cars and trucks as consumers have largely held off buying new cars since the recession. As a result, the boom in auto sales is expected to continue for some time.

    The obvious beneficiaries of more »

  • This Used Car Dealer Had a Board Member Buy In

    By Meena Krishnamsetty - February 12, 2013 | Tickers: AN, KMX, GPI, PAG, SAH

    According to a filing with the SEC, Rakesh Gangwal, who sits on the Board of Directors at CarMax (NYSE: KMX), purchased 30,000 shares of the company’s stock on February 7 at an average price of $39.43 per share. CarMax is a used car retailer operating in the United States with a market capitalization of just over $9 billion. Insider activity is one of the factors we track more »

  • Bill Gates and Eddie Lampert Sold This Company, Should You?

    By Anh HOANG - November 8, 2012 | Tickers: AN, GPI, SAH

    AutoNation (NYSE: AN) has satiated its shareholders with outstanding performance over the last 5 years. In October 2008, the share price was only $4.43, and it was $48.45 in October, nearly an 11 bagger within this 5-year period. Including the recent decrease in the stock price, AutoNation has delivered a return of more than 150% to its shareholders, whereas the S&P500 has generated a 5% loss. 

    AutoNation more »

  • 5 Reasons to Buy AutoNation

    By Piyush Arora - September 3, 2012 | Tickers: ABG, AN, PAG, SAH

    I’m sure that everybody has heard this from a lot of portfolio managers and consultants: “diversifying your portfolio is important.” The reason primarily to do so is to spread the risks by not betting on one single company. Companies are similarly advised to do so with their business decisions and approach. When we invest in a company that hasn’t diversified its operations, the risk exists that a technology more »

  • Who Really Sold You That New Car?

    By Jonathan Lim - August 15, 2012 | Tickers: ABG, AN, LAD, PAG, SAH

    Cars have caught the American imagination for almost one hundred years, and the auto industry has come a long way from the time Henry Ford quipped that his customers could have the Model T in any color, as long as it was black. Yet in the eye of the buying public, the network of dealerships remains a patchwork quilt of mom-and-pop retailers, even though in many metropolitan areas this is more »

  • AutoNation an Idea for Speculators

    By Steve Van Tiem - July 10, 2012 | Tickers: AN, KMX, PAG, SAH

    The domestic automotive dealership industry is characterized by intense competition, low returns on invested capital, and low cash flow generation per dollar of revenue. Additionally, the companies in the industry, including AutoNation (NYSE: AN), CarMax (NYSE: KMX), Penske Automotive Group (NYSE: PAG), and Sonic Automotive (NYSE: SAH), are cyclical and very sensitive to job and housing markets, which have been the laggards in the domestic economy. However, when the economic more »

  • Which Automotive Retailer should we Buy?

    By Ali Ghorbanzadeh - March 22, 2012 | Tickers: AN, GPI, PAG, SAH

    On March 13-14, multi-billionaire Bill Gates’ investment fund, Cascade Investments, bought collectively 374,792 shares in AutoNation (NYSE: AN) bringing their total ownership to over 15.1 million shares or over 11% of the approximately 132 million shares outstanding from AN’s most recently reported quarter. This is an impressive vote of confidence in the automotive retailer and seems to be reasonable from a valuation perspective as the company trades more »

  • CarMax: An Excellent Opportunity Now

    By Christopher French - February 23, 2012 | Tickers: AN, KMX, PAG, SAH

    The performance of the four largest publicly traded companies in the new and used automotive dealership industry have diverged sharply in the past twelve months as the domestic economy slowly recovers. AutoNation (NYSE: AN), CarMax (NYSE: KMX), Penske Automotive Group (NYSE: PAG), and Sonic Automotive (NYSE: SAH), are very sensitive to economic conditions,  particularly the job and housing markets, which have been the laggards in the recovery.  However, because demand more »

  • Why Revamped Sales Won't Help

    By Tom Gibbs - January 25, 2012 | Tickers: AN, KMX, F, GM, SAH

    New automobile sales are generally an accurate barometer of the state of the economy, as consumer spending on new vehicles tends to move with the ebb and flow of the current level of discretionary income.  With the average age of cars and trucks in the United States at 10.8 years, which is in comparison to the 8.4 year average in 1995, there is no doubt that a ton more »

  • AutoNation: Take Profits Now On This Long Run Loser

    By Christopher French - January 23, 2012 | Tickers: AN, GPI, PAG, SAH

    AutoNation Inc (NYSE: AN) operates over 240 new car dealerships across America. From these dealerships, it also offers services such as auto products, maintenance and repair facilities, and vehicle insurance. With new car sales in the US increasing by 8.9% in 2011 from 2010, times are good for dealerships, and shareholders in AutoNation have been well rewarded over the last 12 months.

     Shares are currently trading around $35.25 more »