Sinclair, Inc. (NASDAQ:SBGI) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of Sinclair, Inc. (NASDAQ:SBGI) have received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the six research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have given a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $20.25.

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Sinclair from $15.00 to $14.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Weiss Ratings downgraded Sinclair from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Sinclair from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Benchmark increased their price target on Sinclair from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Sinclair from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, February 22nd.

Insider Activity at Sinclair

In other Sinclair news, Director Daniel C. Keith sold 22,613 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.10, for a total transaction of $296,230.30. Following the sale, the director owned 25,027 shares in the company, valued at $327,853.70. This represents a 47.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Robert Weisbord sold 3,672 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.97, for a total value of $51,297.84. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 280,853 shares in the company, valued at $3,923,516.41. The trade was a 1.29% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 55,672 shares of company stock worth $758,498 in the last 90 days. 41.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Sinclair

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of SBGI. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Sinclair by 5.7% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 41,993 shares of the company’s stock valued at $656,000 after buying an additional 2,258 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its stake in Sinclair by 4.3% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 19,082 shares of the company’s stock valued at $304,000 after buying an additional 780 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Sinclair by 134.7% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 11,525 shares of the company’s stock valued at $182,000 after buying an additional 6,615 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its stake in Sinclair by 17.7% during the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 17,097 shares of the company’s stock valued at $236,000 after buying an additional 2,572 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Sinclair by 5.1% during the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 31,075 shares of the company’s stock valued at $429,000 after buying an additional 1,511 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.71% of the company’s stock.

Sinclair Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of SBGI opened at $13.52 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $968.30 million, a P/E ratio of -8.05 and a beta of 1.03. Sinclair has a one year low of $11.89 and a one year high of $17.88. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average price of $14.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $14.66.

Sinclair (NASDAQ:SBGI) last issued 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 firm 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.61 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Sinclair will post 4.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sinclair Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.4%. Sinclair’s dividend payout ratio is presently -59.52%.

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.