AutoNation vs Sonic Automotive
AN and SAH side by side, both in retail-auto dealers & gasoline stations. Figures are trailing twelve months unless noted, from SEC filings and end-of-day prices.
How AN and SAH compare
AutoNation is the larger company, worth 3.0 times as much as Sonic Automotive ($5.9B against $2.0B).
On earnings, AutoNation is cheaper: it trades at 8.6× trailing earnings, against 10.2× for Sonic Automotive.
Sonic Automotive grew revenue faster over the last twelve months (2.0% versus −1.8% for AutoNation).
AutoNation keeps more of each dollar of sales as profit, with a net margin of 2.6% compared with 1.3% at Sonic Automotive.
Sonic Automotive pays a dividend yielding 2.5%; AutoNation does not pay one.
Sonic Automotive scores higher on the StockData Score (14 against 12 for AutoNation), which adds up 30 checks on valuation, growth, past performance, financial health and dividends.
Key numbers
A dot marks the better figure where higher or lower is clearly better.
| Metric | AN | SAH |
|---|---|---|
| Size and price | ||
| Market cap | $5.9B | $2.0B |
| Share price | $179.64 | $63.23 |
| Change, 1 year | −8.6% | 0.41% |
| Change, 5 years | 45.3% | 22.5% |
| Beta (5Y) | 0.81 | 0.95 |
| Employees | 25K | 11K |
| StockData Score | ||
| Total score | 12 | 14 (better) |
| Valuation score | 4 | 6 (better) |
| Growth score | 0 | 3 (better) |
| Performance score | 4 (better) | 3 |
| Health score | 4 (better) | 1 |
| Dividend score | 0 | 1 (better) |
| Valuation | ||
| P/E | 8.6× (better) | 10.2× |
| P/S | 0.2× | 0.1× (better) |
| P/B | 2.6× | 1.9× (better) |
| EV/EBITDA | 5.1× (better) | 5.7× |
| P/FCF | 259× | 21.9× (better) |
| PEG | – | 0.66 |
| FCF yield | 0.39% | 4.6% (better) |
| Fair value | $231.08 | $82.55 |
| Margin of safety | 22.3% | 23.4% (better) |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth (TTM) | −1.8% | 2.0% (better) |
| Revenue growth, 5Y average | 6.3% | 9.2% (better) |
| Net income growth (TTM) | 8.9% | 58.1% (better) |
| EPS growth (TTM) | 22.6% | 69.0% (better) |
| EPS growth, 5Y average | 31.7% | – |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 17.7% (better) | 15.7% |
| Operating margin | 4.6% (better) | 3.2% |
| Net margin | 2.6% (better) | 1.3% |
| FCF margin | 0.08% | 0.59% (better) |
| Return on equity | 30.2% (better) | 19.4% |
| Return on invested capital | 37.2% (better) | 19.0% |
| Financial health | ||
| Debt / equity | 0.24 (better) | 1.65 |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 0.40 (better) | 2.64 |
| Interest coverage | 6.4× | – |
| Current ratio | 0.77 | 0.95 (better) |
| Altman Z-score | 2.77 | 3.17 (better) |
| Piotroski F-score | 5 | 5 |
| Dividends and buybacks | ||
| Dividend yield | – | 2.5% |
| Payout ratio | – | −22.5% |
| Buyback yield | 16.7% (better) | 0.78% |
| Shareholder yield | 16.7% (better) | 3.3% |
| Ownership | ||
| Held by institutions | 73.3% | 46.1% |
| Held by insiders | 28.1% | 73.9% |
| Insider net buying, 12 months | −$710K (better) | −$3.7M |
| Superinvestors holding | 1 | – |
| Short interest, % of float | 12.4% | 28.6% |
Go deeper
- AN stock overview
- AN income statement
- AN valuation and score
- SAH stock overview
- SAH income statement
- SAH valuation and score
Other comparisons
For information only, not investment advice. Check the source filings before relying on any figure.