Sinclair (NASDAQ:SBGI) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Sinclair (NASDAQ:SBGI - Free Report) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report released on Monday morning.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on SBGI. Benchmark reduced their price objective on Sinclair from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on 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, Guggenheim dropped their target price on Sinclair from $19.00 to $17.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $19.10.

Sinclair Stock Performance

Shares of SBGI stock traded down $0.42 during trading on Monday, hitting $14.94. The company's stock had a trading volume of 389,556 shares, compared to its average volume of 352,916. The company has a market cap of $993.05 million, a PE ratio of -4.53 and a beta of 1.36. 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 business has a fifty day moving average of $14.99 and a 200-day moving average of $15.58. Sinclair has a 52 week low of $11.13 and a 52 week high of $18.46.

Sinclair (NASDAQ:SBGI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported ($2.18) earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $776.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $774.79 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.35 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Sinclair will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Sinclair Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th will be given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.69%. Sinclair's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Sinclair news, Chairman David D. Smith acquired 4,616 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 20th. The shares were bought at an average price of $16.44 per share, for a total transaction of $75,887.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 972,205 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,983,050.20. This represents a 0.48% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Over the last quarter, insiders have acquired 458,530 shares of company stock worth $6,636,392. Corporate insiders own 41.90% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sinclair

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Kendall Capital Management purchased a new stake in Sinclair during the fourth quarter valued at about $280,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Sinclair by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,714,036 shares of the company's stock valued at $59,945,000 after purchasing an additional 64,683 shares in the last quarter. Carronade Capital Management LP raised its position in Sinclair by 418.1% during the fourth quarter. Carronade Capital Management LP now owns 440,419 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,108,000 after purchasing an additional 355,419 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new stake in Sinclair during the fourth quarter valued at about $451,000. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers raised its position in Sinclair by 56.3% during the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 86,072 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,389,000 after purchasing an additional 31,015 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.71% of the company's stock.

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.