Sinclair (NASDAQ:SBGI) Director Sells $222,313.43 in Stock

Sinclair, Inc. (NASDAQ:SBGI) Director Howard Friedman sold 14,713 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.11, for a total value of $222,313.43. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 77,685 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,173,820.35. This represents a 15.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Sinclair Stock Performance

Shares of SBGI traded up $0.51 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $15.14. 310,042 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 364,524. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $15.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $14.59. The company has a market cap of $1.05 billion, a P/E ratio of -24.42 and a beta of 0.96. Sinclair, Inc. has a twelve month low of $11.89 and a twelve month high of $17.88. The company has a quick ratio of 2.01, a current ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 14.77.

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

Sinclair Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 1st were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.6%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 1st. Sinclair’s dividend payout ratio is presently -161.29%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SBGI has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Sinclair in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Sinclair from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. Guggenheim increased their price target on shares of Sinclair from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Sinclair from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $19.00.

Institutional Trading of Sinclair

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SBGI. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Sinclair by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 19,082 shares of the company’s stock valued at $304,000 after acquiring an additional 780 shares during the last quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. increased its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. Kendall Capital Management raised its position in Sinclair by 3.8% in the third quarter. Kendall Capital Management now owns 26,495 shares of the company’s stock valued at $400,000 after purchasing an additional 965 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in Sinclair by 142.0% in the second 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 last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Sinclair by 5.1% during the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 31,075 shares of the company’s stock valued at $429,000 after purchasing an additional 1,511 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 41.71% of the company’s stock.

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.