Pinnacle Associates Ltd. Sells 36,848 Shares of Sinclair, Inc. $SBGI

Pinnacle Associates Ltd. decreased its holdings in shares of Sinclair, Inc. (NASDAQ:SBGI) by 5.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 631,773 shares of the company’s stock after selling 36,848 shares during the period. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. owned approximately 0.91% of Sinclair worth $9,666,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL lifted its stake in Sinclair by 7.7% in the third quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 4,242,962 shares of the company’s stock valued at $64,069,000 after buying an additional 302,160 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Sinclair by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,934,311 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,195,000 after acquiring an additional 220,623 shares during the period. Capital Management Corp VA boosted its stake in Sinclair by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Management Corp VA now owns 1,655,050 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,991,000 after acquiring an additional 97,226 shares during the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC grew its holdings in Sinclair by 9.4% during the third quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 1,191,313 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,989,000 after purchasing an additional 102,759 shares during the period. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC raised its holdings in Sinclair by 890.3% in the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 306,637 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,630,000 after purchasing an additional 275,674 shares during the period. 41.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Sinclair from $15.00 to $14.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Sinclair from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 1st. Weiss Ratings raised Sinclair from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Sinclair from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, Benchmark boosted their price objective on Sinclair from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $19.20.

Sinclair Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:SBGI opened at $14.13 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.70 and a beta of 1.09. Sinclair, Inc. has a 12 month low of $11.89 and a 12 month high of $17.88. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $14.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $14.89. The company has a quick ratio of 2.42, a current ratio of 2.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.10.

Sinclair (NASDAQ:SBGI) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.68) by $0.96. The firm had revenue of $807.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $792.63 million. Sinclair had a net margin of 2.00% and a negative return on equity of 12.62%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($2.30) EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Sinclair, Inc. will post 1.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sinclair Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 26th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 26th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.1%. Sinclair’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 111.11%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Robert Weisbord sold 3,672 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.97, for a total transaction of $51,297.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 280,853 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,923,516.41. This represents a 1.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Daniel C. Keith sold 22,613 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.10, for a total transaction of $296,230.30. Following the sale, the director directly owned 25,027 shares in the company, valued at $327,853.70. This trade represents a 47.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 55,672 shares of company stock worth $758,498. 41.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Sinclair Company Profile

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.