Gray Television (NYSE:GTN) Stock Price Up 5.9% – Time to Buy?

Gray Television, Inc. (NYSE:GTN)’s share price shot up 5.9% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $4.95 and last traded at $4.95. 1,403,461 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 6% from the average session volume of 1,323,164 shares. The stock had previously closed at $4.67.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Guggenheim cut their target price on Gray Television from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Gray Television from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $4.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Gray Television presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $6.33.

Gray Television Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.76. The company’s fifty day moving average is $3.77 and its 200 day moving average is $4.35. The firm has a market cap of $502.13 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 1.45.

Gray Television (NYSE:GTN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $1.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.59. The business had revenue of $1.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. Gray Television had a return on equity of 9.60% and a net margin of 5.69%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Gray Television, Inc. will post 3.32 EPS for the current year.

Gray Television Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.47%. Gray Television’s payout ratio is 9.61%.

Insider Activity

In other Gray Television news, Director Richard Lee Boger sold 16,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.85, for a total value of $61,600.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 55,347 shares in the company, valued at $213,085.95. This represents a 22.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 4.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Voleon Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Gray Television in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Gray Television in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Boothbay Fund Management LLC bought a new position in Gray Television in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its position in Gray Television by 214,100.0% during the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 12,852 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 12,846 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in shares of Gray Television during the fourth quarter worth approximately $43,000. 78.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Gray Television Company 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.