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

Shares of Gray Television, Inc. (NYSE:GTN) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the five brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $6.67.

GTN has been the subject of several recent research reports. StockNews.com upgraded Gray Television from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Guggenheim dropped their price objective on Gray Television from $10.00 to $8.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Barrington Research raised shares of Gray Television to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, 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.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 509,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,225,256.44. This represents a 22.78 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 4.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Gray Television

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GTN. Capital Management Corp VA raised its position 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 worth $28,988,000 after purchasing an additional 1,170,990 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Gray Television by 1.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,009,896 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,773,000 after buying an additional 36,541 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Gray Television by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,971,374 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,568,000 after acquiring an additional 57,481 shares during the last quarter. Tributary Capital Management LLC increased its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 10,093 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased 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 worth $5,488,000 after acquiring an additional 48,623 shares in the last quarter. 78.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Gray Television Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of GTN opened at $4.10 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $5.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $5.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $408.63 million, a P/E ratio of 2.73, a P/E/G ratio of 0.15 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.76. Gray Television has a 12-month low of $3.95 and a 12-month high of $10.07.

Gray Television (NYSE:GTN) last announced its earnings results on Friday, November 8th. The company reported $0.86 earnings per share (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 period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.57) EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Gray Television will post 2.88 EPS for the current year.

Gray Television Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.80%. Gray Television’s payout ratio is currently 21.33%.

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.