Short Interest in Gray Television, Inc. (NYSE:GTN) Decreases By 8.7%

Gray Television, Inc. (NYSE:GTN) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest during the month of July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,210,000 shares, a drop of 8.7% from the June 30th total of 6,800,000 shares. Currently, 7.4% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,350,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.6 days.

Institutional Trading of Gray Television

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Versor Investments LP purchased a new stake in shares of Gray Television during the 2nd quarter valued at about $84,000. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Gray Television in the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Gray Television by 9.9% in the 2nd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 61,763 shares of the company’s stock worth $321,000 after purchasing an additional 5,555 shares during the period. Tributary Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Gray Television by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Tributary Capital Management LLC now owns 1,334,714 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,941,000 after buying an additional 10,093 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dakota Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Gray Television by 34.5% in the second quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 14,753 shares of the company’s stock worth $77,000 after acquiring an additional 3,781 shares during the period. 78.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Gray Television Stock Down 5.4 %

NYSE:GTN traded down $0.35 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $6.08. 1,002,169 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,245,922. The company has a market cap of $602.77 million, a PE ratio of -50.67, a P/E/G ratio of 0.13 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.99, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 1.42. Gray Television has a one year low of $4.39 and a one year high of $10.69. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $5.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $6.40.

Gray Television (NYSE:GTN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.25. Gray Television had a return on equity of 2.13% and a net margin of 1.30%. The firm had revenue of $823.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $824.98 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.48) EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Gray Television will post 5.15 EPS for the current year.

Gray Television Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.26%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. Gray Television’s payout ratio is -266.67%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on GTN shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Gray Television from $5.50 to $6.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Loop Capital raised Gray Television to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, Benchmark upped their price target on Gray Television from $11.00 to $13.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $11.40.

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.