Sinclair (NASDAQ:SBGI) Upgraded by Wall Street Zen to Buy Rating

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Sinclair (NASDAQ:SBGI) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Saturday.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on SBGI. Guggenheim decreased their price target on Sinclair from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Sinclair from $15.00 to $14.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $17.00 price target on Sinclair in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Sinclair from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Benchmark boosted their price target on Sinclair from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Two investment 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $19.20.

Sinclair Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:SBGI opened at $14.28 on Friday. Sinclair has a 12-month low of $11.89 and a 12-month high of $17.88. The company has a market capitalization of $1.02 billion, a PE ratio of 15.87 and a beta of 1.09. The business has a 50 day moving average of $14.60 and a two-hundred day moving average of $14.86. The company has a current ratio of 2.42, a quick ratio of 2.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.10.

Sinclair (NASDAQ:SBGI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.68) by $0.96. Sinclair had a negative return on equity of 12.62% and a net margin of 2.00%.The company had revenue of $807.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $792.63 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($2.30) earnings per share. Sinclair’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Sinclair will post 1.68 EPS for the current year.

Sinclair Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 26th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 26th. Sinclair’s dividend payout ratio is presently 111.11%.

Insider Activity at Sinclair

In other news, COO Robert Weisbord sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 284,525 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,467,042.50. This represents a 3.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Daniel C. Keith sold 22,613 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.10, for a total value of $296,230.30. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 55,672 shares of company stock valued at $758,498. Corporate insiders own 41.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Sinclair

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in SBGI. Madison Avenue Partners LP purchased a new stake in shares of Sinclair during the fourth quarter worth approximately $13,918,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Sinclair by 143.6% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 906,872 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,875,000 after purchasing an additional 534,573 shares in 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 worth $29,778,000 after purchasing an additional 373,566 shares in the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL increased 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 purchasing an additional 302,160 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC increased its position in shares of Sinclair by 890.3% during the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 306,637 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,630,000 after purchasing an additional 275,674 shares in the last quarter. 41.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.