Gray Television, Inc. (NYSE:GTN) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Gray Television, Inc. (NYSE:GTN) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the five research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $6.67.

Several brokerages have issued reports on GTN. Guggenheim reduced their price target on shares of Gray Television from $10.00 to $8.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company reduced 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. Benchmark lowered their target price on Gray Television from $11.00 to $8.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Finally, StockNews.com raised Gray Television from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday.

Gray Television Stock Performance

NYSE GTN opened at $4.40 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $5.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $5.43. The company has a market capitalization of $438.04 million, a P/E ratio of 2.93, a PEG ratio of 0.10 and a beta of 1.47. Gray Television has a 1-year low of $3.95 and a 1-year high of $10.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.76, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 1.63.

Gray Television (NYSE:GTN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 8th. The company reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by ($0.08). Gray Television had a net margin of 5.69% and a return on equity of 9.60%. The firm had revenue of $950.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $967.49 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.57) EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Gray Television will post 4.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gray Television Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.28%. Gray Television’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.33%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of GTN. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in Gray Television in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in shares of Gray Television by 168.1% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 67,101 shares of the company’s stock worth $424,000 after acquiring an additional 42,075 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings in Gray Television by 3.2% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 212,937 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,346,000 after purchasing an additional 6,652 shares during the period. Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new position in Gray Television during the first quarter worth approximately $73,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp raised its stake in Gray Television by 12.0% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 95,427 shares of the company’s stock worth $574,000 after purchasing an additional 10,234 shares during the period. 78.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.