Benson Legg Sells 6,548 Shares of Sinclair (NASDAQ:SBGI) Stock

Sinclair, Inc. (NASDAQ:SBGI) Director Benson Legg sold 6,548 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.81, for a total value of $103,523.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 71,165 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,125,118.65. The trade was a 8.43% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Sinclair Stock Performance

NASDAQ:SBGI traded up $0.33 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $15.34. The stock had a trading volume of 296,179 shares, compared to its average volume of 441,057. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 14.77, a quick ratio of 2.01 and a current ratio of 2.01. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $14.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $14.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -24.74 and a beta of 0.99. Sinclair, Inc. has a twelve month low of $11.89 and a twelve month high of $17.88.

Sinclair (NASDAQ:SBGI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported ($0.02) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.65) by $0.63. The firm had revenue of $773.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $766.78 million. Sinclair had a negative return on equity of 10.19% and a negative net margin of 1.35%.Sinclair’s quarterly revenue was down 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.43 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Sinclair, Inc. will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sinclair Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 1st were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 1st. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.5%. Sinclair’s dividend payout ratio is -161.29%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sinclair

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew 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 buying an additional 1,065 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 1,882 shares during the period. Aquatic Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Sinclair during the third quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Sinclair during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $54,000. Finally, Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Sinclair by 26.2% in the 2nd quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 3,945 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 820 shares during the last quarter. 41.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Zacks Research raised Sinclair from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Sinclair in a research note on Monday. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Sinclair from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 8th. Finally, Guggenheim raised their price target on shares of Sinclair from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sinclair presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $19.00.

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.