B.Riley FBR analyst Barton Crockett maintained a Buy rating on Sinclair Broadcast (NASDAQ: SBGI) yesterday and set a price target of $36. The company’s shares opened today at $27.60, close to its 52-week low of $25.13.
Crockett said:
“In quick succession, we now have confirmation of our thesis when sticking with the BUY rating, but reducing our PT to $36, after it was apparent that the FCC opposition would stop the Tribune/Sinclair merger. Sinclair this afternoon announced a $1B share repurchase authorization, on top of an $89M balance left on the former $150M authorization. This is the largest authorization ever at the company, we believe. Our understanding is that the previous peak was $300M. This suggests Sinclair will move on this, which makes sense if the company believes in the value of its stock, and its public statement that the Tribune suit is “merit-less.” It also makes sense if one fallout of the Tribune fiasco is that other sellers might be reluctant to sell to Sinclair. The company won’t sit on excess capital, it seems.”
According to TipRanks.com, Crockett is a 4-star analyst with an average return of 4.9% and a 55.0% success rate. Crockett covers the Services sector, focusing on stocks such as Liberty Media Corporation Series A Liberty SiriusXM Common Stock, Lions Gate Ent Corp Cl A, and Qurate Retail Group Inc.
Sinclair Broadcast has an analyst consensus of Strong Buy, with a price target consensus of $36.17, representing a 31.1% upside. In a report released yesterday, Benchmark Co. also maintained a Buy rating on the stock with a $38 price target.
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Based on Sinclair Broadcast’s latest earnings release for the quarter ending June 30, the company reported a quarterly net profit of $28.04 million. In comparison, last year the company had a net profit of $44.65 million.
Based on the recent corporate insider activity of 30 insiders, corporate insider sentiment is negative on the stock.
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Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. is a television broadcasting company, which engages in the provision of content on local television stations and digital and other platforms. It operates through Broadcast segment. The Broadcast segment provides free over-the-air programming to television viewing audiences in the communities through local television stations.
