Sinclair (NASDAQ:SBGI) Upgraded to "Equal Weight" at Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Sinclair (NASDAQ:SBGI - Free Report) from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating in a research report sent to investors on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has $19.00 price objective on the stock, up from their prior price objective of $13.00.

SBGI has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Benchmark raised their target price on shares of Sinclair from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price objective on shares of Sinclair from $16.40 to $16.50 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Sinclair from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, September 28th.

Sinclair Stock Performance

NASDAQ SBGI traded down $0.48 during trading on Thursday, reaching $16.93. 827,196 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 413,454. Sinclair has a fifty-two week low of $11.13 and a fifty-two week high of $18.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.12 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.10, a PEG ratio of 0.14 and a beta of 1.53. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $15.56 and a 200-day moving average price of $14.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 14.93, a current ratio of 1.78 and a quick ratio of 1.78.

Sinclair (NASDAQ:SBGI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.13) by $0.40. Sinclair had a positive return on equity of 22.55% and a negative net margin of 10.78%. The business had revenue of $829.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $836.65 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($1.09) EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Sinclair will post 4.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sinclair Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 30th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.91%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. Sinclair's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -18.28%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Sinclair

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SBGI. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in Sinclair by 5.4% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 232,090 shares of the company's stock worth $3,551,000 after purchasing an additional 11,792 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Sinclair in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Sinclair by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 642,738 shares of the company's stock worth $9,834,000 after acquiring an additional 14,384 shares during the period. nVerses Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Sinclair by 71.4% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Sinclair by 81.6% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,283 shares of the company's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 1,026 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.