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

Gray Television, Inc. (NYSE:GTN) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the five research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $6.67.

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

Gray Television Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE GTN opened at $3.67 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $365.78 million, a PE ratio of 2.45, a PEG ratio of 0.13 and a beta of 1.39. Gray Television has a twelve month low of $2.91 and a twelve month high of $10.07. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $4.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $4.85.

Gray Television (NYSE:GTN) last released its earnings results on Friday, November 8th. The company reported $0.86 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $967.49 million. Gray Television had a net margin of 5.69% and a return on equity of 9.60%. The business’s revenue was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.57) earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Gray Television will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Gray Television Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders 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 8.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. Gray Television’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.33%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Kevin Paul Latek sold 150,216 shares of the business’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 transaction of $656,443.92. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 509,212 shares in the company, valued at $2,225,256.44. The trade was a 22.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 4.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Gray Television by 9.9% in the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 61,763 shares of the company’s stock valued at $321,000 after acquiring an additional 5,555 shares during the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Gray Television in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Versor Investments LP purchased a new position in Gray Television during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $84,000. Rhumbline Advisers increased its position in Gray Television by 2.6% during the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 139,642 shares of the company’s stock worth $726,000 after buying an additional 3,544 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Gray Television by 463.3% in the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 61,846 shares of the company’s stock valued at $322,000 after buying an additional 50,866 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.