Sinclair (NASDAQ:SBGI) Price Target Lowered to $14.00 at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Sinclair (NASDAQ:SBGI) had its price objective cut by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $15.00 to $14.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an underweight rating on the stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on SBGI. Benchmark increased their target price on Sinclair from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Sinclair from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Sinclair from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, February 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Sinclair from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.25.

Sinclair Stock Up 0.9%

SBGI stock opened at $13.06 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $14.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $14.68. Sinclair has a fifty-two week low of $11.89 and a fifty-two week high of $17.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.78, a quick ratio of 2.42 and a current ratio of 2.42. The company has a market cap of $935.36 million, a P/E ratio of -7.77 and a beta of 1.03.

Sinclair (NASDAQ:SBGI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.04 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.03) by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $836.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $840.25 million. Sinclair had a negative return on equity of 64.27% and a negative net margin of 3.53%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.61 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Sinclair will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sinclair Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 24th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 10th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.7%. Sinclair’s payout ratio is presently -59.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sinclair

In related news, COO Robert Weisbord sold 3,672 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was 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 directly owned 280,853 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,923,516.41. This represents a 1.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Howard E. Friedman sold 14,713 shares of Sinclair stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director directly owned 77,685 shares in the company, valued at $1,173,820.35. This represents a 15.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 28,385 shares of company stock valued at $430,611 in the last quarter. 41.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sinclair

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL boosted its stake in shares of Sinclair by 7.7% in the 3rd quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 4,242,962 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,069,000 after buying an additional 302,160 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased 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 valued at $60,195,000 after acquiring an additional 220,623 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased 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 valued at $29,778,000 after acquiring an additional 373,566 shares during the last quarter. Capital Management Corp VA lifted its holdings in 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 period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Sinclair by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,509,006 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,089,000 after purchasing an additional 73,241 shares during the last quarter. 41.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.