Gabelli Funds LLC Sells 68,613 Shares of Sinclair, Inc. $SBGI

Gabelli Funds LLC cut its holdings in Sinclair, Inc. (NASDAQ:SBGI) by 5.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,122,700 shares of the company’s stock after selling 68,613 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC’s holdings in Sinclair were worth $17,177,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Sinclair by 142.0% in the 2nd quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,815 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 1,065 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its position in shares of Sinclair by 175.6% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,954 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 1,882 shares in the last quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Sinclair in the 3rd quarter worth about $48,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Sinclair in the 2nd quarter worth about $54,000. Finally, CWM LLC raised its position in shares of Sinclair by 327.8% in the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 5,412 shares of the company’s stock worth $83,000 after acquiring an additional 4,147 shares in the last quarter. 41.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Sinclair Stock Performance

Shares of Sinclair stock opened at $14.27 on Tuesday. Sinclair, Inc. has a one year low of $11.89 and a one year high of $17.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.86 and a beta of 1.09. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $14.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $14.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.10, a current ratio of 2.42 and a quick ratio of 2.42.

Sinclair (NASDAQ:SBGI) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $0.28 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 business had revenue of $807.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $792.63 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($2.30) EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Sinclair, Inc. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sinclair Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on SBGI. Benchmark lifted their price objective on Sinclair from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Sinclair from $15.00 to $14.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Weiss Ratings raised Sinclair from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Sinclair from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Guggenheim decreased their target price on Sinclair from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $19.20.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Sinclair news, Director Daniel C. Keith sold 22,613 shares of the business’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 transaction of $296,230.30. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Robert Weisbord sold 3,672 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 280,853 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,923,516.41. This represents a 1.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 55,672 shares of company stock valued at $758,498 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 46.60% of the company’s stock.

Sinclair 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.