Sinclair (NASDAQ:SBGI) Price Target Lowered to $29.00 at Benchmark

Sinclair (NASDAQ:SBGI - Free Report) had its price target decreased by Benchmark from $30.00 to $29.00 in a research note published on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. Benchmark currently has a buy rating on the stock.

SBGI has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Sinclair from $19.00 to $17.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Guggenheim lowered their target price on shares of Sinclair from $19.00 to $17.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Sinclair from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $19.10.

Sinclair Stock Up 2.1 %

NASDAQ SBGI traded up $0.31 on Tuesday, hitting $15.25. 427,359 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 355,608. Sinclair has a 12 month low of $11.13 and a 12 month high of $18.46. The company has a current ratio of 1.91, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.73. The company has a market cap of $1.01 billion, a PE ratio of -4.62 and a beta of 1.36. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $14.86 and a 200-day moving average of $15.61.

Sinclair (NASDAQ:SBGI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported ($2.18) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.78) by ($0.40). Sinclair had a negative net margin of 6.14% and a positive return on equity of 63.89%. The firm had revenue of $776.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $774.79 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.35 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Sinclair will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Sinclair Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.56%. Sinclair's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman David D. Smith bought 30,296 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $14.09 per share, for a total transaction of $426,870.64. Following the completion of the purchase, the chairman now directly owns 728,986 shares in the company, valued at $10,271,412.74. This represents a 4.34 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Over the last quarter, insiders have acquired 458,530 shares of company stock valued at $6,636,392. Insiders own 41.90% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sinclair

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SBGI. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sinclair by 26.9% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,896 shares of the company's stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 613 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in shares of Sinclair by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 18,302 shares of the company's stock valued at $295,000 after buying an additional 760 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of Sinclair by 7.8% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 14,525 shares of the company's stock worth $231,000 after buying an additional 1,050 shares in the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its position in shares of Sinclair by 29.4% in the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 7,480 shares of the company's stock valued at $121,000 after acquiring an additional 1,700 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in Sinclair by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 36,500 shares of the company's stock valued at $590,000 after acquiring an additional 2,035 shares in the last quarter. 41.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Sinclair

Sinclair, Inc, a media company, provides content on local television stations and digital platforms in the United States. It operates through two segments, Local Media and Tennis. The Local Media segment operates broadcast television stations, original networks, and content; provides free-over-the-air programming and live local sporting events on its stations; distributes its content to multi-channel video programming distributors in exchange for contractual fees; and produces local and original news programs.