Sinclair (NASDAQ:SBGI) Stock Price Up 6.3% – Still a Buy?

Sinclair, Inc. (NASDAQ:SBGI)’s stock price traded up 6.3% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $14.75 and last traded at $14.6750. 107,792 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 77% from the average daily volume of 463,505 shares. The stock had previously closed at $13.81.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Sinclair from $15.00 to $14.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Wall Street Zen upgraded Sinclair from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective 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. Guggenheim reduced their target price on Sinclair from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Sinclair from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sinclair presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $19.20.

Sinclair Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $1.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.93 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a current ratio of 2.42, a quick ratio of 2.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.10. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $14.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $14.48.

Sinclair (NASDAQ:SBGI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.68) by $0.96. Sinclair had a negative return on equity of 12.62% and a net margin of 2.00%.The company had revenue of $807.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $792.63 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($2.30) EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Sinclair, Inc. will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Sinclair Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 26th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 26th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.0%. Sinclair’s payout ratio is 111.11%.

Insider Activity

In other Sinclair news, Director Daniel C. Keith sold 17,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.02, for a total transaction of $255,340.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 25,122 shares in the company, valued at approximately $377,332.44. This represents a 40.36% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 42.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Sinclair by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,934,311 shares of the company’s stock worth $60,195,000 after purchasing an additional 220,623 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Sinclair by 23.8% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,946,274 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,778,000 after purchasing an additional 373,566 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Sinclair by 7.5% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,622,794 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,001,000 after purchasing an additional 113,788 shares in the last quarter. Converium Capital Inc. boosted its position in shares of Sinclair by 15.8% during the 1st quarter. Converium Capital Inc. now owns 1,062,452 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,748,000 after purchasing an additional 144,674 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Sinclair by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 916,712 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,026,000 after buying an additional 12,111 shares during the period. 41.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.