Wall Street Zen Downgrades Sinclair (NASDAQ:SBGI) to Hold

Sinclair (NASDAQ:SBGI) was downgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on SBGI. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Sinclair from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Guggenheim decreased their target price on Sinclair from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Sinclair from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $17.00 target price on shares of Sinclair in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $19.20.

Sinclair Stock Performance

NASDAQ SBGI opened at $14.20 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $14.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $14.34. The stock has a market cap of $1.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.93 and a beta of 1.06. Sinclair has a 12-month low of $11.89 and a 12-month high of $17.88. The company has a current ratio of 1.94, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.28.

Sinclair (NASDAQ:SBGI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported ($1.06) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.24) by ($0.82). Sinclair had a negative return on equity of 16.09% and a net margin of 1.60%.The company had revenue of $840.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $838.99 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.91) earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Sinclair will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Sinclair

In other Sinclair news, Director Daniel C. Keith sold 17,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.02, for a total value of $255,340.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 25,122 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $377,332.44. This trade represents a 40.36% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 42.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SBGI. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in Sinclair by 142.0% during the second quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,815 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 1,065 shares during the last quarter. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Sinclair in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its holdings in Sinclair by 175.6% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,954 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 1,882 shares during the last quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sinclair in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Sinclair in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $54,000. 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.