Sinclair, Inc. (NASDAQ:SBGI) Plans $0.25 Quarterly Dividend

Key Points

• $0.25 quarterly dividend declared (record date May 26, payment June 9), implying a roughly 6.5% yield and a $1.00 annualized payout.
• Sinclair beat the quarter with $0.28 EPS and $807M revenue, but analysts forecast a loss of about $1.60 per share next year, which would likely make the dividend unsustainable under those projections.
• Insiders have been net sellers recently (55,672 shares over the last quarter) despite insider ownership near 41.9%; the stock trades with a negative P/E (-9.05) and a market cap around $1.1 billion.

Sinclair, Inc. (NASDAQ:SBGI - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 26th will be paid a dividend of 0.25 per share on Tuesday, June 9th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.5%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 26th.

Sinclair has raised its dividend by an average of 0.0%annually over the last three years. Sinclair has a dividend payout ratio of 66.7% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Sinclair to earn ($1.60) per share next year, which means the company may not be able to cover its $1.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of -62.5%.

Sinclair Stock Performance

Shares of SBGI stock traded down $0.24 on Friday, hitting $15.31. The company had a trading volume of 30,921 shares, compared to its average volume of 432,877. The firm has a market cap of $1.10 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.05 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $14.58 and a 200-day moving average price of $14.80. The company has a quick ratio of 2.42, a current ratio of 2.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.78. Sinclair has a twelve month low of $11.89 and a twelve month high of $17.88.

Sinclair (NASDAQ:SBGI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.68) by $0.96. The business had revenue of $807.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $792.63 million. Sinclair had a negative return on equity of 64.27% and a negative net margin of 3.53%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($2.30) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Sinclair will post 1.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Sinclair

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 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, 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 owned 280,853 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,923,516.41. This trade represents a 1.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 55,672 shares of company stock valued at $758,498. 41.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sinclair

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in SBGI. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Sinclair by 142.0% in the second quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,815 shares of the company's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 1,065 shares in the last quarter. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sinclair in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its position in shares of Sinclair by 175.6% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,954 shares of the company's stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 1,882 shares in the last quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sinclair in the third quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Sinclair in the second quarter valued at approximately $54,000. 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.

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