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

Gray Television, Inc. (NYSE:GTN) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the five ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $6.67.

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barrington Research upgraded shares of Gray Television to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Guggenheim cut their target price on Gray Television from $10.00 to $8.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Benchmark reduced their target price on Gray Television from $11.00 to $8.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Gray Television from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th.

Gray Television Stock Performance

Shares of GTN opened at $3.44 on Friday. Gray Television has a 12 month low of $2.91 and a 12 month high of $10.07. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $4.22 and a 200-day moving average price of $4.87. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.76. The firm has a market cap of $342.85 million, a PE ratio of 2.29, a P/E/G ratio of 0.13 and a beta of 1.39.

Gray Television (NYSE:GTN) last issued 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). Gray Television had a return on equity of 9.60% and a net margin of 5.69%. The business had revenue of $950.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $967.49 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.57) EPS. Gray Television’s revenue was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Gray Television will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gray Television Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.30%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. Gray Television’s payout ratio is 21.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Gray Television

In other news, EVP Kevin Paul Latek sold 150,216 shares of Gray Television 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 509,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,225,256.44. The trade was a 22.78 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 4.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Gray Television

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital Management Corp VA boosted its position in Gray Television by 27.6% during the third quarter. Capital Management Corp VA now owns 5,408,269 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,988,000 after purchasing an additional 1,170,990 shares in the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP raised its stake in shares of Gray Television by 287.9% during the 3rd quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 232,832 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,248,000 after buying an additional 172,801 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Gray Television during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $881,000. Barclays PLC grew its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 145,263 shares during the period. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 116,821 shares in the last quarter. 78.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.