David D. Smith Acquires 38,410 Shares of Sinclair, Inc. (NASDAQ:SBGI) Stock

Sinclair, Inc. (NASDAQ:SBGI) Chairman David D. Smith purchased 38,410 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $14.01 per share, for a total transaction of $538,124.10. Following the completion of the purchase, the chairman now directly owns 645,564 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,044,351.64. The trade was a 6.33 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Sinclair Stock Performance

Shares of SBGI stock opened at $14.33 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $951.81 million, a PE ratio of -4.34 and a beta of 1.55. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $15.10 and a 200-day moving average of $15.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.73, a current ratio of 1.91 and a quick ratio of 1.91. Sinclair, Inc. has a one year low of $11.13 and a one year high of $18.45.

Sinclair (NASDAQ:SBGI) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported $2.61 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.62. The firm had revenue of $1 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.01 billion. Sinclair had a negative net margin of 6.14% and a positive return on equity of 63.89%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Sinclair, Inc. will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Sinclair Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Sinclair’s payout ratio is presently 21.46%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on SBGI. StockNews.com lowered Sinclair from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Sinclair from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $30.00 target price on shares of Sinclair in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Guggenheim lifted their price target on shares of Sinclair from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Sinclair from $19.00 to $17.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Sinclair currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $19.70.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Sinclair by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,714,036 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,945,000 after purchasing an additional 64,683 shares during the period. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL increased its stake in Sinclair by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 3,704,282 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,787,000 after purchasing an additional 55,350 shares in the last quarter. Empyrean Capital Partners LP increased its stake in Sinclair by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. Empyrean Capital Partners LP now owns 1,144,493 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,472,000 after purchasing an additional 84,493 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Sinclair by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 826,949 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,655,000 after buying an additional 15,263 shares during the period. Finally, Bridgeway Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Sinclair by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 528,719 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,534,000 after buying an additional 11,883 shares in the last quarter. 41.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.