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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $30.00 target price on shares of Sinclair in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target 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 cut their price target 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 lowered shares of Sinclair from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $19.30.

Sinclair Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $1.12 billion, a PE ratio of -5.11 and a beta of 1.50. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $14.84 and its 200-day moving average is $15.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.73, a current ratio of 1.91 and a quick ratio of 1.91.

Sinclair (NASDAQ:SBGI) last announced its earnings results 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. 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.01 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Sinclair, Inc. will post 4.24 EPS for the current year.

Sinclair Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.93%. Sinclair’s payout ratio is 21.46%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Sinclair by 26.9% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,896 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 613 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in Sinclair by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 18,302 shares of the company’s stock valued at $295,000 after buying an additional 760 shares during the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund increased 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 valued at $121,000 after buying an additional 1,700 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Sinclair by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 36,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $590,000 after buying an additional 2,035 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its holdings in Sinclair by 8.5% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 33,548 shares of the company’s stock worth $541,000 after acquiring an additional 2,620 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.