Sinclair (NASDAQ:SBGI) Stock Rating Lowered by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded Sinclair from “buy” to “hold,” joining a broader analyst consensus of “hold.” The average price target is $19.20, above the stock’s recent $14.20 price.
• Sinclair’s latest quarterly results missed expectations, with an adjusted loss of $1.06 per share versus the anticipated loss of $0.24, although revenue of $840 million rose 7.1% year over year and slightly exceeded forecasts.
• Director Daniel C. Keith sold 17,000 shares for approximately $255,340, while institutional ownership stood at 41.71% and insider ownership at 42.10%.

Sinclair (NASDAQ:SBGI - Get Free Report) was downgraded by Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Sinclair from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $17.00 target price on shares of Sinclair in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Guggenheim cut their target price on shares of Sinclair from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Sinclair from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Sinclair has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $19.20.

Sinclair Price Performance

NASDAQ SBGI opened at $14.20 on Friday. Sinclair has a one year low of $11.89 and a one year high of $17.88. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $14.06 and a 200 day moving average of $14.35. The company has a market capitalization of $1.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.93 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.28, a quick ratio of 2.42 and a current ratio of 1.94.

Sinclair (NASDAQ:SBGI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported ($1.06) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.24) by ($0.82). The business had revenue of $840.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $838.99 million. Sinclair had a negative return on equity of 16.09% and a net margin of 1.60%.Sinclair's quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.91) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Sinclair will post 1.68 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sinclair news, Director Daniel C. Keith sold 17,000 shares of Sinclair stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.02, for a total transaction of $255,340.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 25,122 shares of the company's stock, valued at $377,332.44. The trade was a 40.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 42.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Sinclair

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Sinclair by 142.0% during the 2nd 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 during the period. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Sinclair in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its stake in Sinclair by 175.6% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,954 shares of the company's stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 1,882 shares in the last quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Sinclair in the 3rd quarter worth $48,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Sinclair during the second quarter valued at about $54,000. 41.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Sinclair Company Profile

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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