Analysts Set Sinclair, Inc. (NASDAQ:SBGI) PT at $19.40

Sinclair, Inc. (NASDAQ:SBGI) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the six research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have issued a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $19.40.

SBGI has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded Sinclair from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 25th. Zacks Research cut shares of Sinclair from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Sinclair from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Sinclair from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 21st.

Sinclair Stock Performance

SBGI stock opened at $13.81 on Monday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $14.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $14.28. The company has a quick ratio of 1.94, a current ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.28. Sinclair has a 52-week low of $12.46 and a 52-week high of $17.88. The firm has a market cap of $998.74 million, a P/E ratio of 18.41 and a beta of 1.05.

Sinclair (NASDAQ:SBGI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported ($1.06) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.24) by ($0.82). The business had revenue of $840.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $838.99 million. Sinclair had a net margin of 1.60% and a negative return on equity of 16.09%. Sinclair’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.91) EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Sinclair will post 1.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sinclair Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 31st will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 31st. Sinclair’s dividend payout ratio is 133.33%.

Insider Activity

In other Sinclair news, Director Daniel C. Keith sold 17,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.02, for a total transaction of $255,340.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 25,122 shares in the company, valued at approximately $377,332.44. The trade was a 40.36% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP David B. Gibber sold 29,246 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.74, for a total value of $401,840.04. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 184,244 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,531,512.56. The trade was a 13.70% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 42.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Sinclair

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its stake in Sinclair by 1,929.5% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 709,265 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,107,000 after purchasing an additional 674,318 shares during the last quarter. Odyssean LLC acquired a new stake in Sinclair during the 2nd quarter worth $242,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new stake in shares of Sinclair during the second quarter worth $100,000. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sinclair during the first quarter worth $191,000. Finally, Converium Capital Inc. raised its position in shares of Sinclair by 15.8% in the first quarter. Converium Capital Inc. now owns 1,062,452 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,748,000 after buying an additional 144,674 shares during 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.