Sinclair, Inc. (NASDAQ:SBGI) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Sinclair, Inc. (NASDAQ:SBGI) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the six research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have assigned a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $19.00.

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Sinclair from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 8th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Sinclair in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Guggenheim increased their target price on Sinclair from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Sinclair from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 13th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sinclair

In related news, Director Howard E. Friedman sold 14,713 shares of Sinclair stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.11, for a total transaction of $222,313.43. Following the sale, the director directly owned 77,685 shares in the company, valued at $1,173,820.35. This trade represents a 15.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP David B. Gibber sold 29,376 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.67, for a total value of $489,697.92. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 165,272 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,755,084.24. This represents a 15.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 50,637 shares of company stock worth $815,535. 41.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SBGI. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Sinclair by 4.3% in 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 during the period. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Sinclair by 26.2% during the 2nd quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 3,945 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 820 shares in the last quarter. Kendall Capital Management raised its stake in Sinclair by 3.8% in the third quarter. Kendall Capital Management now owns 26,495 shares of the company’s stock valued at $400,000 after purchasing an additional 965 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in Sinclair by 142.0% during the second quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,815 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 1,065 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Sinclair by 5.1% during the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 31,075 shares of the company’s stock worth $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 Price Performance

Sinclair stock opened at $15.25 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -24.60 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a current ratio of 2.01, a quick ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 14.77. Sinclair has a 12 month low of $11.89 and a 12 month high of $17.88. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $15.57 and its 200-day moving average is $14.66.

Sinclair (NASDAQ:SBGI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported ($0.02) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.65) by $0.63. The business had revenue of $773.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $766.78 million. Sinclair had a negative return on equity of 10.19% and a negative net margin of 1.35%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.43 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Sinclair will post 4.24 EPS for the current year.

Sinclair Announces Dividend

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

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.