Analysts Set Sinclair, Inc. (NASDAQ:SBGI) PT at $19.60

Sinclair, Inc. (NASDAQ:SBGI) has been given an average rating of “Hold” by the six research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $19.40.

SBGI has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Benchmark upped their price target on shares of Sinclair from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Sinclair from $15.00 to $14.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Sinclair from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $17.00 price target on shares of Sinclair in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Sinclair from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Daniel C. Keith sold 22,613 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.10, for a total transaction of $296,230.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 25,027 shares in the company, valued at approximately $327,853.70. This represents a 47.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Robert Weisbord sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.70, for a total transaction of $157,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 284,525 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,467,042.50. This represents a 3.40% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 55,672 shares of company stock valued at $758,498. 46.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sinclair

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL boosted its position in shares of Sinclair by 7.7% during the third quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 4,242,962 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,069,000 after acquiring an additional 302,160 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Sinclair by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,934,311 shares of the company’s stock worth $60,195,000 after acquiring an additional 220,623 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Capital Management Corp VA boosted its position in shares of Sinclair by 6.2% during 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 boosted its position in shares of Sinclair by 5.1% during 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 own 41.71% of the company’s stock.

Sinclair Stock Performance

SBGI opened at $14.75 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $1.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.39 and a beta of 1.09. Sinclair has a 1-year low of $11.89 and a 1-year high of $17.88. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $14.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $14.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.78, a current ratio of 2.42 and a quick ratio of 2.42.

Sinclair (NASDAQ:SBGI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.68) by $0.96. The business had revenue of $807.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $792.63 million. Sinclair had a net margin of 2.00% and a negative return on equity of 13.42%. The company’s revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($2.30) earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Sinclair will post 1.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sinclair Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 26th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 26th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.8%. Sinclair’s dividend payout ratio is currently 111.11%.

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.