Sinclair (NASDAQ:SBGI) Stock Price Down 6.7% – What’s Next?

Sinclair, Inc. (NASDAQ:SBGI)’s stock price was down 6.7% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $14.51 and last traded at $14.56. Approximately 174,436 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 56% from the average daily volume of 392,582 shares. The stock had previously closed at $15.60.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on SBGI shares. Weiss Ratings lowered Sinclair from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Benchmark lifted their price target on Sinclair from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Sinclair from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Zacks Research raised shares of Sinclair from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note 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 Sunday, February 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sinclair has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.00.

Sinclair Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $1.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.64 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a current ratio of 2.42, a quick ratio of 2.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.78. The company’s fifty day moving average is $14.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $14.75.

Sinclair (NASDAQ:SBGI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.03) by $0.07. Sinclair had a negative return on equity of 64.27% and a negative net margin of 3.53%.The firm had revenue of $836.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $840.25 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.61 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Sinclair, Inc. will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Sinclair Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 24th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.8%. Sinclair’s payout ratio is currently -59.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Sinclair news, Director Benson E. Legg sold 6,548 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 owned 71,165 shares in the company, valued at $1,125,118.65. This represents a 8.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Howard E. Friedman sold 14,713 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.11, for a total value of $222,313.43. Following 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 position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 50,637 shares of company stock worth $815,535. Corporate insiders own 46.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Sinclair

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Capital Management Corp VA increased its position in shares of Sinclair by 6.2% in the third quarter. Capital Management Corp VA now owns 1,655,050 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,991,000 after buying an additional 97,226 shares in the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL increased its position in shares of Sinclair by 5.4% in the second quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 3,940,802 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,462,000 after acquiring an additional 200,415 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Sinclair by 15.3% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 971,689 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,431,000 after buying an additional 129,277 shares in the last quarter. Optimize Financial Inc acquired a new position in Sinclair in the 3rd quarter worth $1,617,000. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC boosted its stake in Sinclair by 109.4% during the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 131,784 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,821,000 after acquiring an additional 68,857 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.