Sinclair (NASDAQ:SBGI) Hits New 52-Week Low on Analyst Downgrade

Key Points

• Sinclair, Inc. has reached a new 12-month low of $12.04 following a downgrade by Wells Fargo, which lowered its price target from $17.00 to $16.00.
• Various brokerages have mixed ratings on Sinclair, with two analysts giving sell ratings, two a hold, and two a buy, resulting in an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $17.90.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share, with a current yield of 8.2%, despite having a payout ratio of 120.48%.

Sinclair, Inc. (NASDAQ:SBGI - Get Free Report) shares reached a new 52-week low on Friday after Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on the stock from $17.00 to $16.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Sinclair traded as low as $12.04 and last traded at $12.36, with a volume of 139783 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $12.36.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on SBGI. Benchmark reduced their price objective on Sinclair from $29.00 to $27.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Sinclair in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Wall Street Zen cut Sinclair from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Sinclair from $14.00 to $13.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $17.90.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SBGI. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in Sinclair by 15.9% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 73,008 shares of the company's stock worth $1,178,000 after purchasing an additional 10,018 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC raised its stake in Sinclair by 10.8% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 95,260 shares of the company's stock worth $1,538,000 after acquiring an additional 9,295 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Sinclair by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,714,036 shares of the company's stock worth $59,945,000 after acquiring an additional 64,683 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Sinclair by 188.0% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 80,206 shares of the company's stock worth $1,295,000 after acquiring an additional 52,355 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Sinclair during the fourth quarter worth $507,000. 41.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Sinclair Stock Down 3.4%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.32, a current ratio of 2.08 and a quick ratio of 2.08. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $14.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $14.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $829.97 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.37 and a beta of 1.28.

Sinclair (NASDAQ:SBGI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported ($0.91) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.72) by ($0.19). Sinclair had a return on equity of 11.61% and a net margin of 1.44%. The company had revenue of $784.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $798.16 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.27 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Sinclair, Inc. will post 4.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sinclair Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 29th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 29th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.4%. Sinclair's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 120.48%.

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.