Sinclair (NASDAQ:SBGI) Shares Cross Above 200-Day Moving Average - What's Next?

Key Points

• Sinclair's shares crossed above its 200-day moving average of $14.68, trading as high as $16.70 and last at $16.44 on volume of 628,431 shares.
• Analysts are mixed—two Buy, two Hold and two Sell—giving a MarketBeat consensus rating of Hold and a $19.60 target, with individual price targets ranging roughly $14 to $30.
• Fundamentals are strained (PE -9.79, net margin -3.53%, revenue down 16.7% YoY) but the stock yields about 6.1% from a $1.00 annual dividend; insiders have sold shares recently (55,672 in last three months) while retaining ~41.9% ownership.

Sinclair, Inc. (NASDAQ:SBGI - Get Free Report)'s share price crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $14.68 and traded as high as $16.70. Sinclair shares last traded at $16.44, with a volume of 628,431 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SBGI has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Sinclair from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $17.00 price target on shares of Sinclair in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Sinclair from $15.00 to $14.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. Benchmark upped their price target on shares of Sinclair from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Sinclair from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, February 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $19.60.

Sinclair Trading Up 1.2%

The firm has a market cap of $1.18 billion, a PE ratio of -9.79 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a quick ratio of 2.42, a current ratio of 2.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.78. The company's 50 day moving average price is $14.32 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $14.68.

Sinclair (NASDAQ:SBGI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.03) by $0.07. Sinclair had a negative net margin of 3.53% and a negative return on equity of 64.27%. The business had revenue of $836.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $840.25 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.61 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Sinclair, Inc. will post 4.24 EPS for the current year.

Sinclair Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.1%. Sinclair's dividend payout ratio is currently -59.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sinclair

In other news, Director Daniel C. Keith sold 22,613 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.10, for a total value of $296,230.30. Following the sale, the director owned 25,027 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $327,853.70. This represents a 47.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Robert Weisbord sold 3,672 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.97, for a total transaction of $51,297.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 280,853 shares in the company, valued at $3,923,516.41. This represents a 1.29% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 55,672 shares of company stock worth $758,498. Insiders own 41.90% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Capital Management Corp VA increased its stake in Sinclair by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Management Corp VA now owns 1,655,050 shares of the company's stock worth $24,991,000 after buying an additional 97,226 shares during the period. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL increased its stake in Sinclair by 7.7% in the 3rd quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 4,242,962 shares of the company's stock worth $64,069,000 after buying an additional 302,160 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Sinclair by 239.5% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 105,490 shares of the company's stock worth $1,593,000 after buying an additional 74,415 shares during the period. Optimize Financial Inc purchased a new position in Sinclair in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,617,000. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its stake in Sinclair by 109.4% in the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 131,784 shares of the company's stock worth $1,821,000 after buying an additional 68,857 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.71% of the company's stock.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.