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

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

GTN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Benchmark cut their price objective on Gray Television from $11.00 to $8.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 11th. StockNews.com raised shares of Gray Television from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Guggenheim lowered their target price on shares of Gray Television from $10.00 to $8.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Barrington Research raised shares of Gray Television to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Kevin Paul Latek sold 150,216 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.37, for a total value of $656,443.92. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 509,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,225,256.44. The trade was a 22.78 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 4.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Gray Television

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital Management Corp VA lifted its stake in shares of Gray Television by 27.6% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Management Corp VA now owns 5,408,269 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,988,000 after buying an additional 1,170,990 shares in the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Gray Television by 287.9% in the third quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 232,832 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,248,000 after acquiring an additional 172,801 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Gray Television in the second quarter valued at $881,000. Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of Gray Television by 114.4% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 272,272 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,460,000 after purchasing an additional 145,263 shares during the period. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC lifted its holdings in Gray Television by 454.2% during the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 142,541 shares of the company’s stock worth $741,000 after purchasing an additional 116,821 shares in the last quarter. 78.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Gray Television Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GTN opened at $3.76 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $3.66 and a 200 day simple moving average of $4.69. The company has a market cap of $374.26 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.39. Gray Television has a one year low of $2.91 and a one year high of $9.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.76, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 1.13.

Gray Television (NYSE:GTN) last posted its earnings results on Friday, November 8th. The company reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.94 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $950.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $967.49 million. Gray Television had a net margin of 5.69% and a return on equity of 9.60%. Gray Television’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.57) earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Gray Television will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gray Television Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. Gray Television’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.33%.

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.