Sinclair (NASDAQ:SBGI) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

Sinclair, Inc. (NASDAQ:SBGI) gapped up before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $13.81, but opened at $14.53. Sinclair shares last traded at $14.4350, with a volume of 12,666 shares.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on SBGI. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $17.00 price objective on shares of Sinclair in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Sinclair from $15.00 to $14.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Guggenheim cut their price objective on shares of Sinclair from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price 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, Weiss Ratings upgraded 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 given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Sinclair has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $19.20.

Sinclair Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 2.42, a current ratio of 2.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.10. The company has a market capitalization of $1.04 billion, a PE ratio of 15.98 and a beta of 1.04. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $14.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $14.49.

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

Sinclair Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at Sinclair

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sinclair

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in Sinclair by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 19,082 shares of the company’s stock worth $304,000 after buying an additional 780 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in Sinclair by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 17,001 shares of the company’s stock worth $261,000 after acquiring an additional 869 shares in the last quarter. GABELLI & Co INVESTMENT ADVISERS INC. grew its stake in Sinclair by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. GABELLI & Co INVESTMENT ADVISERS INC. now owns 29,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $375,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,065 shares during the period. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its position in shares of Sinclair by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 57,724 shares of the company’s stock worth $883,000 after acquiring an additional 1,259 shares during the period. 41.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.