Sinclair (NASDAQ:SBGI) Raised to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Sinclair (NASDAQ:SBGI) was upgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Sinclair from $15.00 to $14.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Weiss Ratings upgraded Sinclair from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $17.00 price objective on Sinclair in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Benchmark lifted their price target on Sinclair from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Sinclair from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sinclair currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $19.20.

Sinclair Stock Performance

Shares of Sinclair stock opened at $14.28 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.87 and a beta of 1.09. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $14.60 and a 200-day moving average price of $14.86. The company has a quick ratio of 2.42, a current ratio of 2.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.10. Sinclair has a twelve month low of $11.89 and a twelve month high of $17.88.

Sinclair (NASDAQ:SBGI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.68) by $0.96. The firm had revenue of $807.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $792.63 million. Sinclair had a negative return on equity of 12.62% and a net margin of 2.00%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($2.30) earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Sinclair will post 1.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Sinclair news, COO Robert Weisbord sold 3,672 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.97, for a total value of $51,297.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 280,853 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,923,516.41. This trade represents a 1.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Daniel C. Keith sold 22,613 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.10, for a total transaction of $296,230.30. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 25,027 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $327,853.70. The trade was a 47.47% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 55,672 shares of company stock valued at $758,498. 46.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Sinclair

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 780 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in shares of Sinclair by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 17,001 shares of the company’s stock valued at $261,000 after acquiring an additional 869 shares in the last quarter. Kendall Capital Management raised its stake in shares of Sinclair by 3.8% during the third quarter. Kendall Capital Management now owns 26,495 shares of the company’s stock valued at $400,000 after acquiring an additional 965 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Sinclair by 142.0% during the second quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,815 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 1,065 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Sinclair by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 57,724 shares of the company’s stock valued at $883,000 after acquiring an additional 1,259 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 41.71% of the company’s stock.

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.