Sinclair (NASDAQ:SBGI) Stock Lifted to Buy by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Sinclair (NASDAQ:SBGI – Free Report) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Sinclair from $14.00 to $15.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 21st. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Sinclair from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Sinclair from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $19.40.

Get Our Latest Report on Sinclair

Sinclair Price Performance

Shares of Sinclair stock opened at $13.68 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $13.15 and a 200 day moving average of $14.04. Sinclair has a 12 month low of $11.83 and a 12 month high of $17.88. The firm has a market cap of $989.34 million, a PE ratio of 9.99 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.97, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 12.05.

Sinclair (NASDAQ:SBGI – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 4th. The company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $893.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $874.21 million. Sinclair had a negative return on equity of 4.00% and a net margin of 2.84%. The company’s revenue was up 15.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.02) EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Sinclair will post 1.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sinclair Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 1st. Sinclair’s payout ratio is presently 72.99%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Sinclair news, EVP David Gibber sold 29,246 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.74, for a total transaction of $401,840.04. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 184,244 shares in the company, valued at $2,531,512.56. This represents a 13.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 42.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sinclair

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SBGI. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its holdings in Sinclair by 216.2% during the 3rd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 104,042 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,320,000 after buying an additional 71,134 shares during the period. Jacobi Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Sinclair in the third quarter worth $37,000. Capital Management Corp VA boosted its stake in Sinclair by 2.1% during the third quarter. Capital Management Corp VA now owns 1,437,884 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,247,000 after buying an additional 28,902 shares during the period. Blueprint Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in Sinclair during the third quarter worth $257,000. Finally, Blueprint Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Sinclair during the third quarter worth $257,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.71% of the company’s stock.

Sinclair Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Sinclair, Inc is a diversified media company that owns and operates local television stations across the United States. Its broadcast portfolio includes ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, and other network-affiliated stations, as well as independent stations. Sinclair’s local media operations produce news, weather, sports, and community-focused programming for viewers in markets throughout the country.

The company also develops and distributes national and regional content through cable networks, digital platforms, and streaming services.

Further Reading

Analyst Recommendations for Sinclair (NASDAQ:SBGI)

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