Sinclair (NASDAQ:SBGI) Shares Gap Up to $13.28

Sinclair, Inc. (NASDAQ:SBGI) shares gapped up before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $13.28, but opened at $14.67. Sinclair shares last traded at $15.77, with a volume of 193,558 shares changing hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their target price on shares of Sinclair from $10.40 to $15.70 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Sinclair from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Sinclair from $12.00 to $13.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sinclair has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $18.14.

Sinclair Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 18.73, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.34. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $12.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $13.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $935.59 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.27, a PEG ratio of 0.32 and a beta of 1.38.

Sinclair (NASDAQ:SBGI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The company reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.35. Sinclair had a positive return on equity of 26.46% and a negative net margin of 9.29%. The company had revenue of $826.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $838.75 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.90 earnings per share. Sinclair’s revenue for the quarter was down 14.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Sinclair, Inc. will post 2.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sinclair Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 11th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.80%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 8th. Sinclair’s payout ratio is -20.70%.

Insider Activity at Sinclair

In other news, Director Daniel C. Keith sold 30,086 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.58, for a total transaction of $408,567.88. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 30,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $407,400. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CAO David R. Bochenek sold 20,803 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.44, for a total value of $279,592.32. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Daniel C. Keith sold 30,086 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.58, for a total transaction of $408,567.88. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 30,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $407,400. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 39.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Sinclair

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL increased its stake in Sinclair by 2.7% during the third quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 3,524,743 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,548,000 after purchasing an additional 91,870 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Sinclair by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,889,863 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,626,000 after buying an additional 78,793 shares during the period. Capital Management Corp VA grew its stake in shares of Sinclair by 16.5% in the third quarter. Capital Management Corp VA now owns 1,652,805 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,544,000 after acquiring an additional 233,977 shares in the last quarter. American Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Sinclair by 12.7% during the 3rd quarter. American Financial Group Inc. now owns 658,420 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,387,000 after purchasing an additional 74,101 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Sinclair by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 648,481 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,450,000 after purchasing an additional 13,874 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.71% of the company’s stock.

About Sinclair

Sinclair, Inc, a media company, provides content on local television stations and digital platforms in the United States. It operates through two segments, Local Media and Tennis. The Local Media segment operates broadcast television stations, original networks, and content; provides free-over-the-air programming and live local sporting events on its stations; distributes its content to multi-channel video programming distributors in exchange for contractual fees; and produces local and original news programs.