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

Shares of Gray Television, Inc. (NYSE:GTN) have been given an average rating of “Hold” by the five brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $12.80.

A number of analysts recently weighed in on GTN shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Gray Television from $6.00 to $7.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Barrington Research reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Gray Television in a report on Tuesday, February 27th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Gray Television

In related news, CEO Hilton H. Howell, Jr. acquired 10,000 shares of Gray Television stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 28th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $8.09 per share, for a total transaction of $80,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,982,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,127,502.74. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 4.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Gray Television

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. AE Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Gray Television in the 3rd quarter valued at about $76,000. Oak Thistle LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Gray Television in the third quarter valued at approximately $74,000. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of Gray Television by 14.9% during the third quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 19,093 shares of the company’s stock worth $132,000 after acquiring an additional 2,472 shares during the last quarter. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI grew its position in shares of Gray Television by 17.7% during the third quarter. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI now owns 43,990 shares of the company’s stock worth $304,000 after acquiring an additional 6,605 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Skylands Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Gray Television by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Skylands Capital LLC now owns 298,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,064,000 after acquiring an additional 12,100 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.64% of the company’s stock.

Gray Television Stock Performance

NYSE:GTN opened at $5.61 on Friday. Gray Television has a 52 week low of $5.44 and a 52 week high of $10.69. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $6.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $7.39. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.12. The company has a market cap of $545.29 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.15 and a beta of 1.57.

Gray Television (NYSE:GTN) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 23rd. The company reported ($0.24) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.16) by ($0.08). Gray Television had a negative return on equity of 3.76% and a negative net margin of 2.32%. The company had revenue of $864.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $863.31 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.88 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 19.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Gray Television will post 3.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gray Television Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Gray Television’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -23.02%.

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.