Gray Television (NYSE:GTN) Raised to “Hold” at Barrington Research

Barrington Research upgraded shares of Gray Television (NYSE:GTN) to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on GTN. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Gray Television from $6.00 to $4.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 9th. StockNews.com raised shares of Gray Television from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating 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 for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Benchmark decreased 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 note on Monday, November 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $6.67.

Gray Television Price Performance

NYSE GTN opened at $4.69 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $467.44 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.13, a PEG ratio of 0.13 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.76, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 1.63. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $5.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $5.41. Gray Television has a 1 year low of $3.95 and a 1 year high of $10.07.

Gray Television (NYSE:GTN) last announced its quarterly 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 net margin of 5.69% and a return on equity of 9.60%. The company’s revenue was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.57) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Gray Television will post 2.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Gray Television Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.82%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Gray Television’s payout ratio is 21.33%.

Institutional Trading of Gray Television

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in Gray Television by 1.1% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 239,371 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,283,000 after purchasing an additional 2,654 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Gray Television by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 91,405 shares of the company’s stock valued at $578,000 after buying an additional 3,068 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co boosted its position in shares of Gray Television by 13.7% during the 2nd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 25,633 shares of the company’s stock worth $133,000 after purchasing an additional 3,097 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers grew 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, Dakota Wealth Management increased its stake in Gray Television by 34.5% in the 2nd quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 14,753 shares of the company’s stock valued at $77,000 after purchasing an additional 3,781 shares in the last quarter. 78.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.