Gray Television, Inc. (NYSE:GTN) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

Gray Television, Inc. (NYSE:GTN) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 6,020,000 shares, a decrease of 15.0% from the August 15th total of 7,080,000 shares. Currently, 7.2% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 1,550,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.9 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Gray Television in the 4th quarter valued at about $246,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Gray Television by 9.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,662,398 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,786,000 after buying an additional 506,106 shares during the last quarter. CenterBook Partners LP purchased a new position in Gray Television during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,671,000. CastleKnight Management LP purchased a new position in Gray Television during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,591,000. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new position in Gray Television during the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,010,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.64% of the company’s stock.

Gray Television Stock Up 0.7 %

NYSE GTN traded up $0.04 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $5.14. 1,182,228 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,287,335. The company has a 50 day moving average of $5.18 and a two-hundred day moving average of $5.57. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.98. Gray Television has a 52-week low of $4.15 and a 52-week high of $10.07. The firm has a market cap of $509.07 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -42.54, a PEG ratio of 0.09 and a beta of 1.49.

Gray Television (NYSE:GTN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.10 by ($0.01). Gray Television had a return on equity of 3.02% and a net margin of 1.84%. The company had revenue of $826.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $840.33 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.10) EPS. Gray Television’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Gray Television will post 4.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Gray Television Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.23%. Gray Television’s payout ratio is currently -266.67%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GTN has been the topic of several research reports. Guggenheim decreased their target price on Gray Television from $12.00 to $10.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Benchmark decreased their target price on Gray Television from $13.00 to $11.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Gray Television from $6.00 to $4.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $8.33.

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.