Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SBGI) was in 12 hedge funds’ portfolio at the end of December. SBGI investors should pay attention to a decrease in activity from the world’s largest hedge funds recently. There were 12 hedge funds in our database with SBGI positions at the end of the previous quarter.
Just as beneficial, bullish insider trading activity is a second way to parse down the investments you’re interested in. As the old adage goes: there are a number of reasons for an insider to downsize shares of his or her company, but only one, very clear reason why they would buy. Plenty of academic studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this tactic if “monkeys” understand what to do (learn more here).
With these “truths” under our belt, it’s important to take a peek at the key action surrounding Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SBGI).
What have hedge funds been doing with Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SBGI)?
At the end of the fourth quarter, a total of 12 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 0% from one quarter earlier. With the smart money’s positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists an “upper tier” of key hedge fund managers who were boosting their stakes meaningfully.
Of the funds we track, Don Morgan’s Brigade Capital had the most valuable position in Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SBGI), worth close to $13 million, comprising 0.8% of its total 13F portfolio. On Brigade Capital’s heels is Charles Davidson of Wexford Capital, with a $5 million position; 0.8% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Other hedge funds that are bullish include Mario Gabelli’s GAMCO Investors, Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group and Geoffrey Raynor’s Q Investments (Specter Holdings).
Due to the fact that Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SBGI) has experienced bearish sentiment from hedge fund managers, it’s easy to see that there lies a certain “tier” of fund managers that decided to sell off their entire stakes at the end of the year. At the top of the heap, Spencer M. Waxman’s Shannon River Fund Management sold off the largest stake of the 450+ funds we key on, comprising an estimated $6 million in stock.. Jim Simons’s fund, Renaissance Technologies, also sold off its stock, about $1 million worth. These bearish behaviors are intriguing to say the least, as aggregate hedge fund interest stayed the same (this is a bearish signal in our experience).
How have insiders been trading Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SBGI)?
Bullish insider trading is particularly usable when the primary stock in question has experienced transactions within the past 180 days. Over the last half-year time period, Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SBGI) has experienced zero unique insiders purchasing, and 5 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
Let’s also review hedge fund and insider activity in other stocks similar to Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SBGI). These stocks are Fisher Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSCI), Nexstar Broadcasting Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST), LIN TV Corp (NYSE:TVL), Belo Corp. (NYSE:BLC), and CTC Media, Inc. (NASDAQ:CTCM). This group of stocks belong to the broadcasting – tv industry and their market caps resemble SBGI’s market cap.
| Company Name | # of Hedge Funds | # of Insiders Buying | # of Insiders Selling |
| Fisher Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSCI) | 6 | 3 | 1 |
| Nexstar Broadcasting Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST) | 14 | 0 | 6 |
| LIN TV Corp (NYSE:TVL) | 9 | 0 | 6 |
| Belo Corp. (NYSE:BLC) | 17 | 0 | 5 |
| CTC Media, Inc. (NASDAQ:CTCM) | 11 | 0 | 0 |
With the returns shown by our research, everyday investors must always watch hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:SBGI) shareholders fit into this picture quite nicely.
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