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

Gray Television, Inc. (NYSE:GTN) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the five analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has issued a hold recommendation, two have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $6.67.

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Gray Television from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Benchmark reduced their price objective on Gray Television from $11.00 to $8.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Barrington Research upgraded Gray Television to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Guggenheim dropped their target price on Gray Television from $10.00 to $8.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 12th.

Gray Television Stock Up 6.3 %

Gray Television stock opened at $3.35 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $4.26 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $4.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.76, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.13. The company has a market cap of $333.89 million, a PE ratio of 2.23, a PEG ratio of 0.13 and a beta of 1.36. Gray Television has a fifty-two week low of $2.91 and a fifty-two week high of $10.07.

Gray Television (NYSE:GTN) last issued its earnings results on Friday, November 8th. The company reported $0.86 EPS 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 company earned ($0.57) EPS. Gray Television’s quarterly revenue was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Gray Television will post 3.06 EPS for the current year.

Gray Television Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. Gray Television’s payout ratio is currently 21.33%.

Insider Activity at Gray Television

In other Gray Television news, EVP Kevin Paul Latek sold 150,216 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.37, for a total transaction of $656,443.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 509,212 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,225,256.44. This represents a 22.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 4.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Gray Television

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GTN. Capital Management Corp VA increased its position in shares of Gray Television by 27.6% during the third quarter. Capital Management Corp VA now owns 5,408,269 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,988,000 after purchasing an additional 1,170,990 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Gray Television by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,009,896 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,773,000 after purchasing an additional 36,541 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Gray Television by 3.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,971,374 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,568,000 after buying an additional 57,481 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Gray Television by 4.8% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,055,389 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,488,000 after buying an additional 48,623 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Gray Television by 5.5% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 696,853 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,951,000 after buying an additional 36,312 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.64% of the company’s stock.

Gray Television Company 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.