Howard Friedman Sells 14,713 Shares of Sinclair (NASDAQ:SBGI) Stock

Sinclair, Inc. (NASDAQ:SBGI) Director Howard Friedman sold 14,713 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.11, for a total transaction of $222,313.43. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 77,685 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,173,820.35. The trade was a 15.92% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Sinclair Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ SBGI opened at $14.88 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.04 billion, a PE ratio of -24.00 and a beta of 0.96. Sinclair, Inc. has a 12 month low of $11.89 and a 12 month high of $17.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 14.77, a current ratio of 2.01 and a quick ratio of 2.01. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $15.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $14.60.

Sinclair (NASDAQ:SBGI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported ($0.02) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.65) by $0.63. Sinclair had a negative net margin of 1.35% and a negative return on equity of 10.19%. The business had revenue of $773.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $766.78 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.43 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Sinclair, Inc. will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Sinclair Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 1st were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 1st. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.7%. Sinclair’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -161.29%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sinclair

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of SBGI. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in Sinclair by 142.0% during the 2nd quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,815 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 1,065 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its position in shares of Sinclair by 175.6% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,954 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 1,882 shares in the last quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Sinclair in the third quarter valued at $48,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Sinclair during the 2nd quarter valued at $54,000. Finally, Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. increased its stake in Sinclair by 26.2% during the 2nd quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 3,945 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 820 shares during the period. 41.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on SBGI. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Sinclair in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research upgraded Sinclair from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Guggenheim increased their price objective on shares of Sinclair from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Sinclair from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $19.00.

Sinclair Company Profile

Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc (NASDAQ: SBGI) is a media and entertainment company headquartered in Hunt Valley, Maryland. Founded in 1971 as a single UHF television station operator, Sinclair has grown through strategic acquisitions and organic expansion to become one of the largest owners of local television stations in the United States. Over its history, the company has pursued a diversified portfolio that includes both traditional broadcast assets and newer digital platforms.

At its core, Sinclair operates over 190 television stations affiliated with the major national broadcast networks, including ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, The CW and MyNetworkTV.