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

Sinclair, Inc. (NASDAQ:SBGI) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the six research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have assigned a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $19.00.

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on SBGI. Guggenheim increased their price target on Sinclair from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Sinclair from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 8th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Sinclair in a report on Monday, December 22nd. Finally, Zacks Research raised Sinclair from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 13th.

Sinclair Stock Performance

Sinclair stock opened at $15.26 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $1.06 billion, a PE ratio of -24.61 and a beta of 0.99. 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 1 year low of $11.89 and a 1 year high of $17.88. The company’s 50-day moving average is $15.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $14.49.

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

Sinclair Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 1st were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 1st. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.6%. Sinclair’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -161.29%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP David B. Gibber sold 29,376 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.67, for a total value of $489,697.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 165,272 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,755,084.24. The trade was a 15.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Benson E. Legg sold 6,548 shares of Sinclair stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.81, for a total value of $103,523.88. Following the transaction, the director owned 71,165 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,125,118.65. This represents a 8.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 46.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sinclair

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL raised its holdings in Sinclair by 7.7% during 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 period. Capital Management Corp VA raised its holdings in shares of 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. Gabelli Funds LLC lifted its position in Sinclair by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 1,191,313 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,989,000 after acquiring an additional 102,759 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Sinclair by 15.3% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 971,689 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,431,000 after purchasing an additional 129,277 shares during the period. Finally, Pinnacle Associates Ltd. boosted its stake in Sinclair by 46.4% in the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 668,621 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,096,000 after purchasing an additional 212,040 shares during the period. 41.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.