Sinclair, Inc. (NASDAQ:SBGI) Stock Now Rated “Hold” by Wall Street Brokerages

Sinclair, Inc. (NASDAQ:SBGI) has been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the six brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have given a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $19.40.

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Sinclair from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 21st. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Sinclair from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 8th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Sinclair from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Sinclair from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 8th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sinclair

In other news, EVP David Gibber sold 29,246 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.74, for a total value of $401,840.04. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 184,244 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,531,512.56. This represents a 13.70% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 42.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sinclair

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Sinclair by 2,823.1% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,280 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 2,202 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new position in Sinclair during the second quarter worth approximately $100,000. Waverly Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Sinclair during the first quarter worth approximately $157,000. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new stake in Sinclair in the first quarter valued at approximately $191,000. Finally, Inceptionr LLC raised its stake in Sinclair by 46.3% in the first quarter. Inceptionr LLC now owns 17,025 shares of the company’s stock valued at $220,000 after buying an additional 5,385 shares during the period. 41.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sinclair Price Performance

Shares of SBGI opened at $12.80 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $925.70 million, a PE ratio of 17.07 and a beta of 1.12. Sinclair has a 52-week low of $12.23 and a 52-week high of $17.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.28, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a current ratio of 1.94. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $13.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $14.02.

Sinclair (NASDAQ:SBGI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported ($1.06) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.24) by ($0.82). The company had revenue of $840.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $838.99 million. Sinclair had a negative return on equity of 16.09% and a net margin of 1.60%. The firm’s revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.91) EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Sinclair will post 1.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sinclair Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 31st were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 31st. Sinclair’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 133.33%.

Sinclair Company Profile

Sinclair, Inc (NASDAQ: SBGI) is a diversified media company that owns and operates local television stations across the United States. Its broadcast stations provide local news, weather, community programming, syndicated content and programming from major national television networks, including ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC in selected markets.

The company also develops and distributes sports, entertainment and digital media content through businesses and brands such as Tennis Channel, Stadium, Charge!, Comet and TBD.