Gray Television, Inc. (NYSE:GTN) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Gray Television, Inc. (NYSE:GTN) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the six research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $11.40.

GTN has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Gray Television from $5.50 to $6.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Loop Capital upgraded Gray Television to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Benchmark lifted their target price on Gray Television from $11.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, Barrington Research reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Gray Television in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th.

Gray Television Stock Performance

NYSE:GTN opened at $4.92 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $5.98 and its 200-day moving average is $7.15. Gray Television has a 1-year low of $4.87 and a 1-year high of $10.69. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.99. The stock has a market cap of $487.76 million, a P/E ratio of -41.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.09 and a beta of 1.50.

Gray Television (NYSE:GTN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $823.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $824.98 million. Gray Television had a net margin of 1.30% and a return on equity of 2.13%. Gray Television’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.48) earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Gray Television will post 5.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Gray Television Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.50%. Gray Television’s payout ratio is -266.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Gray Television

In other Gray Television news, CEO Hilton H. Howell, Jr. acquired 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 28th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $8.09 per share, with a total value of $80,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,982,386 shares in the company, valued at $24,127,502.74. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 4.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Gray Television

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GTN. CWM LLC lifted its stake in shares of Gray Television by 61.5% during the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,017 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 1,149 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Gray Television by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 17,485 shares of the company’s stock worth $157,000 after acquiring an additional 1,644 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Gray Television by 9.1% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 19,990 shares of the company’s stock valued at $138,000 after purchasing an additional 1,665 shares in the last quarter. Teza Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Gray Television by 13.6% during the 3rd quarter. Teza Capital Management LLC now owns 20,684 shares of the company’s stock valued at $143,000 after purchasing an additional 2,470 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of Gray Television by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 91,405 shares of the company’s stock valued at $578,000 after purchasing an additional 3,068 shares during the period. 78.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Gray Television

Gray Television, Inc, a television broadcasting company, owns and/or operates television stations and digital assets in the United States. It also broadcasts secondary digital channels affiliated to ABC, CBS, NBC, and FOX, as well as various other networks and program services, including CW Plus Network, MY Network, the MeTV Network, Circle, Telemundo, THE365, and Outlaw; and local news/weather channels in various markets.