Gray Television, Inc. (NYSE:GTN) Receives $6.67 Average Target Price from Analysts

Gray Television, Inc. (NYSE:GTN) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the five research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has assigned a hold recommendation, two have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $6.67.

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

Gray Television Trading Down 3.6 %

GTN opened at $3.53 on Friday. Gray Television has a one year low of $2.91 and a one year high of $10.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.76, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.13. The stock has a market cap of $351.82 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.35, a P/E/G ratio of 0.13 and a beta of 1.39. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $4.05 and its 200-day moving average price is $4.83.

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 business had revenue of $950.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.57) earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Gray Television will post 3.06 EPS for the current year.

Gray Television Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.07%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. Gray Television’s payout ratio is 21.33%.

Insider Activity at Gray Television

In related 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 509,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,225,256.44. This represents a 22.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 4.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Gray Television

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Capital Management Corp VA grew its stake in 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 buying an additional 1,170,990 shares during the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP increased its holdings in shares of Gray Television by 287.9% during the third quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 232,832 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,248,000 after acquiring an additional 172,801 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Gray Television in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $881,000. Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC boosted its stake in Gray Television by 454.2% in the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 142,541 shares of the company’s stock worth $741,000 after purchasing an additional 116,821 shares in the last quarter. 78.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.