Sinclair (NASDAQ:SBGI) Shares Gap Up Following Insider Buying Activity

Sinclair, Inc. (NASDAQ:SBGI)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday following insider buying activity. The stock had previously closed at $16.53, but opened at $16.96. Sinclair shares last traded at $16.60, with a volume of 47,879 shares traded.

Specifically, Chairman David D. Smith acquired 17,902 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $16.45 per share, for a total transaction of $294,487.90. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 1,082,771 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,811,582.95. This represents a 1.68 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Chairman David D. Smith bought 4,616 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 20th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $16.44 per share, with a total value of $75,887.04. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 972,205 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,983,050.20. The trade was a 0.48 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In other news, Chairman David D. Smith purchased 61,591 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 18th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $15.79 per share, for a total transaction of $972,521.89. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chairman now directly owns 962,951 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,204,996.29. The trade was a 6.83 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SBGI has been the topic of a number of research reports. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $30.00 target price on shares of Sinclair in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. 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. Guggenheim lowered their target price on shares of Sinclair from $19.00 to $17.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Sinclair from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. One investment 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $19.30.

Sinclair Stock Up 1.0 %

The firm has a market cap of $1.11 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.06 and a beta of 1.50. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $14.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $15.81. The company has a current ratio of 1.91, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.73.

Sinclair (NASDAQ:SBGI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported $2.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.62. Sinclair had a negative net margin of 6.14% and a positive return on equity of 63.89%. The company had revenue of $1 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.01 billion. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Sinclair, Inc. will post 4.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sinclair Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.99%. Sinclair’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.46%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sinclair

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SBGI. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Sinclair by 26.9% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,896 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 613 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Sinclair during the fourth quarter worth $47,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Sinclair during the third quarter worth $91,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in Sinclair in the 3rd quarter valued at $121,000. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its stake in Sinclair by 29.4% in the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 7,480 shares of the company’s stock worth $121,000 after purchasing an additional 1,700 shares during the period. 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.