Sonic Corp. (NASDAQ:SONC) was downgraded by Zacks Investment Research from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report issued on Thursday.
According to Zacks, “Sonic Corp. operates and franchises one of the largest chain of drive-in restaurants in the United States. Sonic restaurants offer made-to-order hamburgers and other sandwiches and feature Sonic signature items, such as footlong coney cheese dogs, hand-battered onion rings, tater tots, specialty soft drinks, including cherry limeades and slushes, and frozen desserts. At a typical Sonic restaurant, a customer drives into one of 24 to 36 covered drive-in spaces, orders through an intercom, and has the food delivered by a carhop within an average of four minutes. “
A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on SONC. Bank of America Corporation restated a “buy” rating and set a $30.00 price objective on shares of Sonic Corp. in a research note on Monday, August 14th. BidaskClub cut Sonic Corp. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Sunday, July 16th. Jefferies Group LLC reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $26.00 price target on shares of Sonic Corp. in a research note on Thursday, July 27th. Cowen and Company boosted their price target on Sonic Corp. from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, June 23rd. Finally, Oppenheimer Holdings, Inc. reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $29.00 price target on shares of Sonic Corp. in a research note on Monday, June 26th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $27.75.
Shares of Sonic Corp. (NASDAQ:SONC) opened at 23.82 on Thursday. Sonic Corp. has a 12-month low of $21.12 and a 12-month high of $30.05. The company has a market capitalization of $995.89 million, a P/E ratio of 15.88 and a beta of 1.74. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $24.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $26.00.
Sonic Corp. (NASDAQ:SONC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 22nd. The restaurant operator reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, topping the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $124 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $122.58 million. Sonic Corp. had a negative return on equity of 44.21% and a net margin of 13.23%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 24.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.43 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Sonic Corp. will post $1.24 EPS for the current year.
Sonic Corp. announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, August 9th that permits the company to buyback $160.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the restaurant operator to buy up to 16.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.
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In other news, Director Steven A. Davis acquired 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 21st. The shares were purchased at an average price of $24.62 per share, for a total transaction of $49,240.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 6.24% of the company’s stock.
Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State of Tennessee Treasury Department boosted its stake in shares of Sonic Corp. by 8.5% in the first quarter. State of Tennessee Treasury Department now owns 41,044 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,041,000 after buying an additional 3,231 shares during the last quarter. Parametric Portfolio Associates LLC boosted its stake in shares of Sonic Corp. by 4.8% in the first quarter. Parametric Portfolio Associates LLC now owns 65,529 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,662,000 after buying an additional 3,025 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Sonic Corp. by 4.8% in the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc. now owns 72,561 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,840,000 after buying an additional 3,300 shares during the last quarter. Karp Capital Management Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Sonic Corp. during the first quarter valued at about $209,000. Finally, Teza Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sonic Corp. during the first quarter valued at about $440,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.48% of the company’s stock.
Sonic Corp. Company Profile
Sonic Corp. operates and franchises the chain of drive-thru restaurants (Sonic Drive-Ins) in the United States. As of August 31, 2016, 3,557 Sonic Drive-Ins were in operation from coast to coast in 45 states, consisting of 345 Company drive-thrus and 3,212 franchise drive-thrus. As of August 31, 2016, its restaurant design and construction consisted of a kitchen housed in a one-story building, which was approximately 1,500 square feet, flanked by canopy-covered rows of 16 to 24 parking spaces, with each space having its own payment terminal, intercom speaker system and menu board.
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