Sinclair (NASDAQ:SBGI) Shares Gap Up After Analyst Upgrade

Sinclair, Inc. (NASDAQ:SBGI) shares gapped up before the market opened on Monday after Benchmark raised their price target on the stock from $29.00 to $30.00. The stock had previously closed at $14.67, but opened at $15.01. Benchmark currently has a buy rating on the stock. Sinclair shares last traded at $14.68, with a volume of 34,709 shares changing hands.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. StockNews.com cut Sinclair from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday. Rosenblatt Securities raised their target price on Sinclair from $16.40 to $16.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $19.88.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sinclair

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of SBGI. Capital Management Corp VA raised its holdings in Sinclair by 36.7% in the 1st quarter. Capital Management Corp VA now owns 2,006,720 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,031,000 after acquiring an additional 538,740 shares during the last quarter. Alden Global Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Sinclair by 86.1% in the fourth quarter. Alden Global Capital LLC now owns 645,400 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,410,000 after purchasing an additional 298,508 shares during the last quarter. Empyrean Capital Partners LP purchased a new position in Sinclair during the second quarter worth approximately $2,873,000. Inspire Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Sinclair during the second quarter worth $1,552,000. Finally, Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC acquired a new position in Sinclair during the first quarter worth $1,359,000. 41.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sinclair Trading Down 1.0 %

The company has a current ratio of 1.78, a quick ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 14.93. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $13.90 and a 200-day simple moving average of $13.22. The company has a market capitalization of $961.57 million, a PE ratio of -2.06, a PEG ratio of 0.12 and a beta of 1.54.

Sinclair (NASDAQ:SBGI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.13) by $0.40. Sinclair had a negative net margin of 10.78% and a positive return on equity of 22.55%. The firm had revenue of $829.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $836.65 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($1.09) earnings per share. Sinclair’s quarterly revenue was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Sinclair, Inc. will post 4.57 EPS for the current year.

Sinclair Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.88%. Sinclair’s dividend payout ratio is currently -14.04%.

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.