JPMorgan Chase & Co. Lowers Sinclair (NASDAQ:SBGI) Price Target to $14.00

Sinclair (NASDAQ:SBGI) had its price target dropped by research analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $15.00 to $14.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “underweight” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price objective indicates a potential upside of 7.61% from the company’s current price.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Weiss Ratings cut Sinclair from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. 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. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Sinclair from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Sinclair from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, February 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.25.

Sinclair Stock Down 0.4%

SBGI opened at $13.01 on Wednesday. Sinclair has a fifty-two week low of $11.89 and a fifty-two week high of $17.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.78, a quick ratio of 2.42 and a current ratio of 2.42. The company has a fifty day moving average of $14.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $14.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $931.78 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.74 and a beta of 1.03.

Sinclair (NASDAQ:SBGI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported $0.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.03) by $0.07. Sinclair had a negative net margin of 3.53% and a negative return on equity of 64.27%. The business had revenue of $836.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $840.25 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.61 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Sinclair will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Howard E. Friedman sold 14,713 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.11, for a total value of $222,313.43. Following the transaction, the director owned 77,685 shares in the company, valued at $1,173,820.35. This trade represents a 15.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Daniel C. Keith sold 22,613 shares of Sinclair stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.10, for a total value of $296,230.30. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 25,027 shares in the company, valued at $327,853.70. This represents a 47.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 70,385 shares of company stock worth $980,811. Corporate insiders own 41.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Sinclair by 5.7% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 41,993 shares of the company’s stock worth $656,000 after purchasing an additional 2,258 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its position in shares of Sinclair by 4.3% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 19,082 shares of the company’s stock valued at $304,000 after buying an additional 780 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Sinclair by 134.7% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 11,525 shares of the company’s stock valued at $182,000 after buying an additional 6,615 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in shares of Sinclair by 17.7% in the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 17,097 shares of the company’s stock worth $236,000 after buying an additional 2,572 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Sinclair by 5.1% in the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 31,075 shares of the company’s stock worth $429,000 after buying an additional 1,511 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.71% of the company’s stock.

About Sinclair

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.