Franklin Resources Inc. Acquires 36,312 Shares of Gray Television, Inc. (NYSE:GTN)

Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Gray Television, Inc. (NYSE:GTN) by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 696,853 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 36,312 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Gray Television were worth $3,951,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Gray Television by 9.9% in the 2nd 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 purchased a new position in shares of Gray Television in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Versor Investments LP purchased a new position in shares of Gray Television in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $84,000. Rhumbline Advisers increased its position in shares of Gray Television by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 139,642 shares of the company’s stock valued at $726,000 after purchasing an additional 3,544 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Heritage Family Offices LLP purchased a new stake in Gray Television during the 2nd quarter valued at $71,000. 78.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Gray Television Trading Down 1.0 %

GTN stock opened at $3.03 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $301.99 million, a PE ratio of 2.02, a P/E/G ratio of 0.14 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.76, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 1.13. Gray Television, Inc. has a 12 month low of $2.91 and a 12 month high of $10.07. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $4.62 and its 200 day moving average is $4.98.

Gray Television (NYSE:GTN) last posted its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $950.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.57) EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Gray Television, Inc. will post 2.88 EPS for the current year.

Gray Television Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Gray Television’s dividend payout ratio is 21.33%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Guggenheim dropped their price objective on shares of Gray Television from $10.00 to $8.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Benchmark cut their price target on shares of Gray Television from $11.00 to $8.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 11th. Barrington Research raised shares of Gray Television to a “hold” rating in a research note 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $6.67.

Insider Transactions at Gray Television

In other news, EVP Kevin Paul Latek sold 150,216 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 509,212 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,225,256.44. This trade represents 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 accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 13.83% of the company’s stock.

Gray Television 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.