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

Gray Television, Inc. (NYSE:GTN) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the five research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $6.67.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Kevin Paul Latek sold 150,216 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 509,212 shares in the company, valued at $2,225,256.44. This trade represents a 22.78 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 4.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Gray Television

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GTN. Capital Management Corp VA increased its position in shares of Gray Television by 27.6% during the third quarter. Capital Management Corp VA now owns 5,408,269 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,988,000 after acquiring an additional 1,170,990 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP grew its stake in Gray Television by 287.9% during the 3rd quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 232,832 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,248,000 after purchasing an additional 172,801 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Gray Television during the 2nd quarter worth about $881,000. Barclays PLC raised its position in Gray Television by 114.4% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC boosted its stake in shares of Gray Television by 454.2% in the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 142,541 shares of the company’s stock valued at $741,000 after buying an additional 116,821 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.64% of the company’s stock.

Gray Television Stock Performance

Shares of Gray Television stock opened at $3.35 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $4.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $4.87. The company has a market cap of $333.89 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.23, a PEG ratio of 0.13 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.76, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.13. Gray Television has a one year low of $2.91 and a one year high of $10.07.

Gray Television (NYSE:GTN) last issued 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). The company had revenue of $950.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $967.49 million. Gray Television had a return on equity of 9.60% and a net margin of 5.69%. The firm’s revenue was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.57) earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Gray Television will post 3.06 EPS for the current year.

Gray Television Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.55%. Gray Television’s dividend 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.