MML Investors Services LLC Takes $65,000 Position in Gray Television, Inc. (NYSE:GTN)

MML Investors Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Gray Television, Inc. (NYSE:GTN) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 12,042 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $65,000.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital Management Corp VA lifted its position in Gray Television by 27.6% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Management Corp VA now owns 5,408,269 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,988,000 after buying an additional 1,170,990 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Gray Television by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,009,896 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,773,000 after acquiring an additional 36,541 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Gray Television by 4.8% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,055,389 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,488,000 after purchasing an additional 48,623 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Gray Television by 17.2% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 560,825 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,916,000 after purchasing an additional 82,454 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in Gray Television by 20.1% in the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 411,449 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,205,000 after purchasing an additional 68,795 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on GTN. Guggenheim decreased their price objective on shares of Gray Television from $10.00 to $8.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Benchmark dropped their target price on Gray Television from $11.00 to $8.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 11th. StockNews.com upgraded Gray Television from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Barrington Research upgraded Gray Television to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $6.67.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Kevin Paul Latek sold 150,216 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.37, for a total value of $656,443.92. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 509,212 shares in the company, valued at $2,225,256.44. This represents a 22.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 4.80% of the company’s stock.

Gray Television Trading Down 3.5 %

Shares of GTN stock opened at $3.01 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.76, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.13. Gray Television, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $2.91 and a fifty-two week high of $10.07. The company has a market cap of $300.00 million, a PE ratio of 2.01, a P/E/G ratio of 0.14 and a beta of 1.36. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $4.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $4.93.

Gray Television (NYSE:GTN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 8th. The company reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.94 by ($0.08). Gray Television had a net margin of 5.69% and a return on equity of 9.60%. The company had revenue of $950.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $967.49 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.57) EPS. Gray Television’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Gray Television, Inc. will post 2.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gray Television Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.63%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Gray Television’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.33%.

Gray Television Profile

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.