Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Sells 9,850 Shares of Sinclair, Inc. (NASDAQ:SBGI)

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lowered its position in Sinclair, Inc. (NASDAQ:SBGI) by 12.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 70,576 shares of the company’s stock after selling 9,850 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp’s holdings in Sinclair were worth $1,139,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Kendall Capital Management bought a new position in Sinclair in the 4th quarter valued at $280,000. Verition Fund Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sinclair in the third quarter valued at $822,000. Rhumbline Advisers raised its holdings in shares of Sinclair by 56.3% in the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 86,072 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,389,000 after buying an additional 31,015 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its position in Sinclair by 378.1% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 54,229 shares of the company’s stock worth $831,000 after buying an additional 42,887 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its holdings in Sinclair by 29.4% during the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 7,480 shares of the company’s stock worth $121,000 after acquiring an additional 1,700 shares during the last quarter. 41.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on SBGI shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Sinclair from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Guggenheim reduced their price objective on Sinclair from $19.00 to $17.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 10th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $30.00 target price on shares of Sinclair in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Sinclair from $19.00 to $17.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Sinclair has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $19.30.

Sinclair Stock Performance

SBGI stock opened at $15.91 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.73. Sinclair, Inc. has a twelve month low of $11.13 and a twelve month high of $18.46. The business’s fifty day moving average is $14.97 and its 200-day moving average is $15.91. The company has a market cap of $1.06 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.82 and a beta of 1.50.

Sinclair (NASDAQ:SBGI) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported $2.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.62. The firm had revenue of $1 billion for 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that Sinclair, Inc. will post 4.24 EPS for the current year.

Sinclair Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.29%. Sinclair’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.46%.

Insider Transactions at Sinclair

In other Sinclair news, Chairman David D. Smith acquired 38,410 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $14.01 per share, with a total value of $538,124.10. Following the purchase, the chairman now owns 645,564 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,044,351.64. This represents a 6.33 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders have bought a total of 262,541 shares of company stock valued at $3,844,778 over the last three months. 46.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.