Sinclair (NASDAQ:SBGI) Shares Gap Down – Should You Sell?

Sinclair, Inc. (NASDAQ:SBGI) gapped down prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $16.96, but opened at $16.35. Sinclair shares last traded at $16.43, with a volume of 24,065 shares changing hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on SBGI. Guggenheim dropped their price objective on Sinclair from $19.00 to $17.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 10th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and issued a $30.00 price target on shares of Sinclair in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Sinclair from $19.00 to $17.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Sinclair from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Sinclair has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $19.30.

Sinclair Stock Down 1.9 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.73, a current ratio of 1.91 and a quick ratio of 1.91. The company has a market capitalization of $1.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.04 and a beta of 1.50. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $14.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $15.76.

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

Sinclair Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.01%. Sinclair’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.46%.

Insider Activity at Sinclair

In other Sinclair news, Chairman David D. Smith acquired 38,410 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average price 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 approximately $9,044,351.64. This represents a 6.33 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Over the last ninety days, insiders purchased 244,639 shares of company stock valued at $3,550,290. Insiders own 46.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Sinclair

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Sinclair by 26.9% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,896 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 613 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. bought a new position in shares of Sinclair during the fourth quarter worth approximately $47,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new position in shares of Sinclair during the third quarter worth approximately $91,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its stake in shares of Sinclair by 29.4% during the fourth 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. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in shares of Sinclair during the fourth quarter worth approximately $123,000. Institutional investors own 41.71% of the company’s stock.

Sinclair Company Profile

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.