Vanguard Group Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Sinclair, Inc. $SBGI

Key Points

• Vanguard Group boosted its stake in Sinclair by 5.9% in the fourth quarter, adding 220,623 shares and bringing its total holding to 3.93 million shares, or about 5.65% of the company.
• Sinclair recently reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings, posting $0.28 EPS versus estimates for a loss, while revenue of $807 million also topped forecasts and rose 4% year over year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share, equal to an annualized yield of 7.1%, though the payout ratio is high at 111.11%.

Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Sinclair, Inc. (NASDAQ:SBGI - Free Report) by 5.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,934,311 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 220,623 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 5.65% of Sinclair worth $60,195,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SBGI. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Sinclair by 5.7% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 41,993 shares of the company's stock worth $656,000 after acquiring an additional 2,258 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its stake in Sinclair by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 19,082 shares of the company's stock worth $304,000 after acquiring an additional 780 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Sinclair by 134.7% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 11,525 shares of the company's stock worth $182,000 after acquiring an additional 6,615 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its stake in Sinclair by 17.7% in the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 17,097 shares of the company's stock worth $236,000 after acquiring an additional 2,572 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Sinclair by 5.1% in the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 31,075 shares of the company's stock worth $429,000 after acquiring an additional 1,511 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.71% of the company's stock.

Sinclair Price Performance

NASDAQ:SBGI opened at $14.13 on Friday. Sinclair, Inc. has a 52 week low of $11.89 and a 52 week high of $17.88. The company has a quick ratio of 2.42, a current ratio of 2.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.02 billion, a PE ratio of 15.70 and a beta of 1.09. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $14.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $14.89.

Sinclair (NASDAQ:SBGI - Get Free Report) last posted 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 firm had revenue of $807.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $792.63 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($2.30) EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Sinclair, Inc. will post 1.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sinclair Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 26th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 26th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.1%. Sinclair's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 111.11%.

Insider Transactions at Sinclair

In related news, Director Daniel C. Keith sold 22,613 shares of Sinclair stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.10, for a total value of $296,230.30. Following the sale, the director directly owned 25,027 shares in the company, valued at approximately $327,853.70. The trade was a 47.47% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Robert Weisbord sold 3,672 shares of Sinclair stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.97, for a total value of $51,297.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 280,853 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,923,516.41. The trade was a 1.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 55,672 shares of company stock worth $758,498 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 41.90% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Sinclair from $15.00 to $14.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. Guggenheim reduced their price objective on Sinclair from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Benchmark lifted their price objective on Sinclair from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Sinclair from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $17.00 price objective on Sinclair in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $19.20.

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.

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