Gray Television, Inc. (NYSE:GTN) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Gray Television, Inc. (NYSE:GTN) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,770,000 shares, a growth of 6.0% from the November 30th total of 4,500,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,290,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.7 days. Approximately 5.6% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Kevin Paul Latek sold 150,216 shares of Gray Television stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.37, for a total value of $656,443.92. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 509,212 shares in the company, valued at $2,225,256.44. The trade was a 22.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 13.83% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Gray Television by 9.9% in the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 61,763 shares of the company’s stock valued at $321,000 after buying an additional 5,555 shares during the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new position in Gray Television in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Versor Investments LP purchased a new position in shares of Gray Television during the 2nd quarter worth $84,000. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 3,544 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Gray Television by 463.3% in the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 61,846 shares of the company’s stock valued at $322,000 after purchasing an additional 50,866 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GTN has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Benchmark decreased their target price 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. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Gray Television from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Guggenheim reduced their price target on shares of Gray Television from $10.00 to $8.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Barrington Research upgraded Gray Television to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. One 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $6.67.

Gray Television Stock Up 6.1 %

Shares of NYSE GTN opened at $3.15 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $4.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $4.90. The company has a market capitalization of $313.95 million, a PE ratio of 2.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.14 and a beta of 1.36. Gray Television has a 12-month low of $2.91 and a 12-month high of $10.07. 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 (NYSE:GTN) last posted 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 analysts’ expectations of $967.49 million. Gray Television had a net margin of 5.69% and a return on equity of 9.60%. Gray Television’s quarterly revenue was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.57) EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Gray Television will post 2.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gray Television Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. Gray Television’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.33%.

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.