Empyrean Capital Partners LP Boosts Holdings in Sinclair, Inc. (NASDAQ:SBGI)

Empyrean Capital Partners LP increased its holdings in shares of Sinclair, Inc. (NASDAQ:SBGI - Free Report) by 8.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,144,493 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 84,493 shares during the quarter. Empyrean Capital Partners LP owned approximately 1.72% of Sinclair worth $18,472,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Carronade Capital Management LP lifted its stake in Sinclair by 418.1% in the fourth quarter. Carronade Capital Management LP now owns 440,419 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,108,000 after acquiring an additional 355,419 shares during the last quarter. Trexquant Investment LP acquired a new stake in Sinclair in the fourth quarter valued at $1,688,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Sinclair by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,714,036 shares of the company's stock valued at $59,945,000 after acquiring an additional 64,683 shares during the last quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Sinclair in the fourth quarter valued at $940,000. Finally, Gamco Investors INC. ET AL lifted its stake in Sinclair by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 3,704,282 shares of the company's stock valued at $59,787,000 after acquiring an additional 55,350 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.71% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Sinclair

In other news, Chairman David D. Smith acquired 63,073 shares of Sinclair stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 9th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $12.91 per share, with a total value of $814,272.43. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 1,526,029 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,701,034.39. This trade represents a 4.31% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders have bought 458,530 shares of company stock valued at $6,636,392 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 41.90% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on SBGI shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Sinclair from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Guggenheim dropped their price objective on shares of Sinclair from $19.00 to $17.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Sinclair from $19.00 to $17.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Benchmark lowered their price target on shares of Sinclair from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $19.10.

Sinclair Trading Up 2.1%

Shares of NASDAQ SBGI traded up $0.31 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $15.25. The stock had a trading volume of 427,359 shares, compared to its average volume of 355,608. The firm has a market cap of $1.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.62 and a beta of 1.36. Sinclair, Inc. has a twelve month low of $11.13 and a twelve month high of $18.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.73, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a current ratio of 1.91. The company's 50 day moving average price is $14.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $15.61.

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

Sinclair Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.56%. Sinclair's dividend payout ratio is currently 49.75%.

Sinclair Company Profile

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.