Sinclair (NASDAQ:SBGI) Trading Down 3.8% – Here’s Why

Sinclair, Inc. (NASDAQ:SBGI) shares traded down 3.8% on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $12.46 and last traded at $12.6740. 161,591 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 62% from the average session volume of 424,949 shares. The stock had previously closed at $13.18.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on SBGI shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Sinclair from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Sinclair from $15.00 to $14.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Sinclair from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Benchmark raised their target price on shares of Sinclair from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Sinclair from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, February 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.25.

Sinclair Trading Up 0.9%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.78, a quick ratio of 2.42 and a current ratio of 2.42. The company has a market capitalization of $935.36 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.77 and a beta of 1.03. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $14.36 and a 200-day moving average price of $14.68.

Sinclair (NASDAQ:SBGI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.04 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.03) by $0.07. The business had revenue of $836.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $840.25 million. Sinclair had a negative return on equity of 64.27% and a negative net margin of 3.53%.Sinclair’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.61 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Sinclair, Inc. will post 4.24 EPS for the current year.

Sinclair Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 10th. Sinclair’s dividend payout ratio is -59.52%.

Insider Activity at Sinclair

In other Sinclair news, COO Robert Weisbord sold 3,672 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.97, for a total transaction of $51,297.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 280,853 shares in the company, valued at $3,923,516.41. This represents a 1.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Howard E. Friedman sold 14,713 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.11, for a total value of $222,313.43. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 77,685 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,173,820.35. This represents a 15.92% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 28,385 shares of company stock worth $430,611 in the last quarter. 41.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sinclair

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL lifted its position in shares of Sinclair by 7.7% during the 3rd quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 4,242,962 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,069,000 after buying an additional 302,160 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Sinclair by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,934,311 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,195,000 after acquiring an additional 220,623 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Sinclair by 23.8% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,946,274 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,778,000 after acquiring an additional 373,566 shares in the last quarter. Capital Management Corp VA lifted its holdings in shares of Sinclair by 6.2% in the third quarter. Capital Management Corp VA now owns 1,655,050 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,991,000 after acquiring an additional 97,226 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Sinclair by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,509,006 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,089,000 after acquiring an additional 73,241 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.71% of the company’s stock.

About Sinclair

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.