KMX vs SAH vs PAG Stock Comparison

Carmax, Sonic Automotive and Penske Automotive Prices as of Oct 28, 2026 Peers: Industry group
KMX Carmax Inc
$53.99 -4.4% 1M +21.5% 1Y
Market cap
$7.98B
P/E
27.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$27.63B
Div. yield
–
Auto Dealerships Consumer Discretionary
1 win
SAH Sonic Automotive Inc
$63.14 +1.2% 1M -1.8% 1Y
Market cap
$2.01B
P/E
9.5x
Revenue (TTM)
$15.47B
Div. yield
-0.02%
Auto Dealerships Consumer Discretionary
6 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Sonic Automotive leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Sonic Automotive 6, Penske Automotive 4, Carmax 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionKMXSAHPAGLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $7.98B $2.01B $13.96B PAG
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 27.3x 9.5x 14.6x SAH
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 17.6x 9.1x 17.0x SAH
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +4.8% +5.3% — SAH
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 1.1% 1.4% — SAH
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 1.1% 18.6% — SAH
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 20.4x 2.6x — SAH
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% -0.02% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +21.5% -1.8% +30.0% PAG
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -17.0%/yr +5.0%/yr +14.9%/yr PAG
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 54.7% 44.7% 27.5% PAG
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 48/100 48/100 47/100 KMX

Percentile Scorecard

KMXSAHPAG

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisKMXSAHPAG
Valuation 67 #35 of 104 52 #50 of 104 59 #43 of 104
Growth 40 #59 of 98 68 #32 of 98 –
Profitability 35 #63 of 96 57 #42 of 96 –
Financial Health 21 #87 of 110 19 #89 of 110 37 #70 of 110
Shareholder Returns 77 #17 of 71 41 #42 of 71 46 #39 of 71
Overall 48 48 47
  • KMX ranked among 115 companies in Retail
  • SAH ranked among 115 companies in Retail
  • PAG ranked among 115 companies in Retail

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodKMXSAHPAGSPY
1 month -4.4%+1.2%+2.2% +0.9%
3 months -8.7%-44.2%-5.3% +5.9%
6 months +40.8%-13.9%+23.5% +8.5%
Year to date +39.7%+2.1%+33.9% +13.3%
1 year +21.5%-1.8%+30.0% +12.4%
3 years -10.8%+28.5%+46.4% +88.1%
3 years, per year -3.7%+8.7%+13.6% +23.5%
5 years -60.6%+27.7%+99.8% +68.2%
5 years, per year -17.0%+5.0%+14.9% +11.0%
10 years +8.5%+252.7%+380.1% +263.4%
10 years, per year +0.8%+13.4%+17.0% +13.8%

Risk

MeasureKMXSAHPAGSPY
Volatility, 1Y 54.7%44.7%27.5% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 65.2%49.0%22.4% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.240.760.56 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 0.39-0.041.09 0.98
Max drawdown, 5Y -80.1%-47.2%-25.3% -25.4%
From 52-week high -15.9%-44.2%-5.3% -0.9%
52-week high $64.22$113.07$223.90 $779.14
52-week low $30.88$58.28$140.60 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleKMXSAHPAG
P/E now vs peer median 26.2xmedian 16.7x 9.4xmedian 16.7x 14.6xmedian 16.7x
P/S now vs peer median 0.3xmedian 0.4x 0.3xmedian 0.4x 0.4xmedian 0.4x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 30.4xmedian 9.2x 10.2xmedian 9.2x —median 9.2x
P/FCF now vs peer median 6.7xmedian 16.0x 21.3xmedian 16.0x 22.8xmedian 16.0x
P/B now vs peer median 1.2xmedian 1.6x 5.1xmedian 1.6x 2.3xmedian 1.6x
PEG now vs peer median -2.53median 0.73 0.09median 0.73 —median 0.73

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsKMXSAHPAG
Revenue $27.63B $15.47B –
Gross profit $2.85B $2.43B –
Operating income $392.76M $510.20M –
Net income $292.45M $211.90M –
Free cash flow $1.15B $244.50M –
EPS (diluted) $2.05 $6.60 –
Cash & equivalents $170.53M $19.20M $68.30M
Total debt $15.71B $1.76B –
Shares (diluted) 142.45M 32.10M 65.73M
Enterprise value $7.35B $1.89B $13.96B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricKMXSAHPAG
P/E 26.2x 9.4x 14.6x
P/FCF 6.7x 21.3x 22.8x
P/Operating cash flow 4.8x 30.6x –
P/S 0.3x 0.3x 0.4x
P/B 1.2x 5.1x 2.3x
P/Tangible book 1.2x 8.8x 2.3x
EV/EBITDA 30.4x 10.2x –
EV/EBIT 59.1x 13.6x –
EV/Revenue 0.8x 0.4x –
EV/FCF 20.2x 28.4x –
EV/Operating cash flow 14.5x 40.8x –
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -2.53 0.09 –

Growth

14 metrics
MetricKMXSAHPAG
Revenue growth (1Y) 4.8% 5.3% –
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 0.8% 2.9% –
Gross profit growth (1Y) -3.6% 6.3% –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 1.8% 2.1% –
Operating income growth (1Y) -23.0% 38.3% –
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 0.1% 39.1% –
Net income growth (1Y) -43.9% 34.3% –
Net income CAGR (3Y) -13.6% 104.2% –
EPS growth (1Y) -41.0% 42.7% –
EPS CAGR (3Y) -10.3% 110.4% –
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 32.4% -66.5% –
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 29.1% 28.1% –
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 67.3% -65.5% –
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 53.9% -9.8% –

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricKMXSAHPAG
Gross margin 10.3% 15.7% –
EBITDA margin 2.8% 4.4% –
Operating margin 1.4% 3.3% –
Pretax margin 1.6% 2.0% –
Net margin 1.1% 1.4% –
FCF margin 4.1% 1.6% –
Operating cash flow margin 5.8% 1.1% –
Return on equity 4.7% 31.9% –
Return on assets 1.1% 5.1% –
Return on invested capital 1.1% 18.6% –
Return on capital employed 1.6% 16.0% –
Asset turnover 1.0x 2.5x –
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 5.5x 0.8x –
Stock comp / revenue 0.4% 0.1% –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricKMXSAHPAG
Debt / assets 60.3% 27.6% –
Debt / equity 2.5x 1.7x –
Net debt / EBITDA 20.4x 2.6x –
Debt / FCF 13.7x 7.2x –
Liabilities / assets 75.8% 83.9% 67.6%
Equity / assets 24.2% 16.1% 32.4%
Interest coverage 3.3x – –
Current ratio 2.3x 1.0x 1.0x
Quick ratio 0.2x 0.1x –
Cash ratio 0.1x 0.0x –
Altman Z-score 1.71 3.62 –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricKMXSAHPAG
Dividend yield – 2.5% 2.7%
Net buyback yield 3.4% 0.3% –
Shareholder yield 3.4% 2.8% 2.7%
Payout ratio (earnings) – 22.3% –
Payout ratio (FCF) – 19.3% –
Dividend growth (1Y) – -26.5% –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – -17.3% –

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusKMXSAHPAG
Forward P/E 17.6xFY2026 9.1xFY2026 17.0xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $3.06FY2026 $6.92FY2026 $12.45FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +5.2%FY2026 +4.8%FY2026 -6.6%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +21.2% +1.0% +18.0%
Revenue, next fiscal year $29.97BFY2026 $14.64BFY2026 $34.43BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +15.8%FY2026 -3.4%FY2026 +8.2%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +0.4% +5.2% -9.1%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersKMXSAHPAG
Held by institutions 100.0% 20.6% 27.8%
Institutions holding 557 235 393
Change in shares held, QoQ -2.9% +1.7% +4.0%
Institutions buying 232 122 209
Institutions selling 251 80 105
Buyers to sellers 0.92 1.53 1.99

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

KMXSAHPAG
KMX 1.00 0.40 0.37
SAH 0.40 1.00 0.61
PAG 0.37 0.61 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, KMX, SAH and PAG?

Penske Automotive (PAG) is the largest by market capitalisation: Carmax (KMX) $7.98B, Sonic Automotive (SAH) $2.01B, Penske Automotive (PAG) $13.96B.

Which stock is cheaper, KMX, SAH and PAG?

Sonic Automotive (SAH) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Carmax (KMX) 27.3x, Sonic Automotive (SAH) 9.5x, Penske Automotive (PAG) 14.6x). On next year's consensus earnings, Sonic Automotive (SAH) is cheapest (Carmax (KMX) 17.6x, Sonic Automotive (SAH) 9.1x, Penske Automotive (PAG) 17.0x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Sonic Automotive (SAH) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Carmax (KMX) +4.8%, Sonic Automotive (SAH) +5.3%.

Which company is more profitable?

Sonic Automotive (SAH) has the highest net margin (Carmax (KMX) 1.1%, Sonic Automotive (SAH) 1.4%). On return on invested capital, Sonic Automotive (SAH) leads (Carmax (KMX) 1.1%, Sonic Automotive (SAH) 18.6%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Penske Automotive (PAG) returned the most: Carmax (KMX) +21.5%, Sonic Automotive (SAH) -1.8%, Penske Automotive (PAG) +30.0%. Over five years, Penske Automotive (PAG) compounded fastest (Carmax (KMX) -17.0%/yr, Sonic Automotive (SAH) +5.0%/yr, Penske Automotive (PAG) +14.9%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Penske Automotive (PAG) has been the steadiest (Carmax (KMX) 54.7%, Sonic Automotive (SAH) 44.7%, Penske Automotive (PAG) 27.5%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, KMX, SAH and PAG?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Sonic Automotive (SAH) leads on 6. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.