Sinclair (NASDAQ:SBGI) Earns Buy Rating from Benchmark

Benchmark reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of Sinclair (NASDAQ:SBGI) in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $30.00 price target on the stock.

Several other analysts also recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Sinclair from $14.00 to $16.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Sinclair from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $13.00 to $19.00 in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their target price on Sinclair from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Sinclair has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.10.

Sinclair Stock Performance

Shares of SBGI opened at $14.72 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $977.70 million, a P/E ratio of -4.46 and a beta of 1.57. Sinclair has a 52 week low of $11.13 and a 52 week high of $18.45. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $16.46 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $15.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.73, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a current ratio of 1.91.

Sinclair (NASDAQ:SBGI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.54. The business had revenue of $917.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $923.02 million. Sinclair had a positive return on equity of 63.89% and a negative net margin of 6.14%. Sinclair’s revenue was up 19.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.30) earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Sinclair will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sinclair Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. Sinclair’s payout ratio is -30.30%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sinclair

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Sinclair by 26.9% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,896 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 613 shares during the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC increased its holdings in Sinclair by 71.4% in the 3rd quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 3,600 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 1,500 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Sinclair in the 3rd quarter worth about $39,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its stake in Sinclair by 28.0% in the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 13,325 shares of the company’s stock valued at $177,000 after acquiring an additional 2,918 shares during the period. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its position in Sinclair by 15.4% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 28,463 shares of the company’s stock worth $433,000 after purchasing an additional 3,801 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.