Sinclair (NASDAQ:SBGI) Lowered to “Strong Sell” Rating by Zacks Research

Zacks Research cut shares of Sinclair (NASDAQ:SBGI) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $17.00 target price on Sinclair in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Sinclair from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen lowered Sinclair from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Weiss Ratings raised Sinclair from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Guggenheim cut their price objective on Sinclair from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $19.20.

Sinclair Trading Down 0.7%

Sinclair stock opened at $13.67 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.28, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a current ratio of 1.94. The firm has a market cap of $986.56 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.23 and a beta of 1.06. Sinclair has a 1 year low of $12.46 and a 1 year high of $17.88. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $14.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $14.32.

Sinclair (NASDAQ:SBGI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported ($1.06) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.24) by ($0.82). Sinclair had a net margin of 1.60% and a negative return on equity of 16.09%. The company had revenue of $840.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $838.99 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.91) EPS. Sinclair’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Sinclair will post 1.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sinclair Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 31st will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 31st. Sinclair’s payout ratio is presently 133.33%.

Insider Transactions at Sinclair

In other news, Director Daniel C. Keith sold 17,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 2nd. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $377,332.44. This represents a 40.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 42.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SBGI. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in Sinclair by 142.0% in the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Sinclair during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its stake in Sinclair by 175.6% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,954 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 1,882 shares in the last quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Sinclair during the 3rd quarter valued at about $48,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Sinclair in the 2nd quarter valued at about $54,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.71% of the company’s stock.

About Sinclair

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.