Sinclair (NASDAQ:SBGI) Director Sells $222,313.43 in Stock

Sinclair, Inc. (NASDAQ:SBGI) Director Howard Friedman sold 14,713 shares of Sinclair stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.11, for a total transaction of $222,313.43. Following the sale, the director owned 77,685 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,173,820.35. This represents a 15.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Sinclair Trading Up 3.5%

NASDAQ SBGI traded up $0.51 on Thursday, hitting $15.14. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 310,042 shares, compared to its average volume of 364,524. The company’s 50-day moving average is $15.50 and its 200 day moving average is $14.59. The firm has a market cap of $1.05 billion, a PE ratio of -24.42 and a beta of 0.96. Sinclair, Inc. has a 1-year low of $11.89 and a 1-year high of $17.88. The company has a quick ratio of 2.01, a current ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 14.77.

Sinclair (NASDAQ:SBGI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported ($0.02) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.65) by $0.63. The company had revenue of $773.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $766.78 million. Sinclair had a negative net margin of 1.35% and a negative return on equity of 10.19%. Sinclair’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.43 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Sinclair, Inc. will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sinclair Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 1st were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 1st. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.6%. Sinclair’s dividend payout ratio is presently -161.29%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sinclair

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SBGI. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL lifted its stake in shares of Sinclair by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 3,940,802 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,462,000 after purchasing an additional 200,415 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Sinclair by 15.3% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 971,689 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,431,000 after purchasing an additional 129,277 shares during the period. Alpha Wealth Funds LLC purchased a new position in Sinclair in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $515,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC lifted its stake in Sinclair by 109.4% in the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 131,784 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,821,000 after purchasing an additional 68,857 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new stake in Sinclair in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $256,000. Institutional investors own 41.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on SBGI. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Sinclair from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Sinclair from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. Guggenheim increased their price objective on shares of Sinclair from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Sinclair in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $19.00.

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.