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

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

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Kevin Paul Latek sold 150,216 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.37, for a total transaction of $656,443.92. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 4.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Capital Management Corp VA raised its position in shares of Gray Television by 27.6% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Management Corp VA now owns 5,408,269 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,988,000 after acquiring an additional 1,170,990 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in Gray Television by 1.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,009,896 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,773,000 after purchasing an additional 36,541 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Gray Television by 3.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,971,374 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,568,000 after purchasing an additional 57,481 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Gray Television by 4.8% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,055,389 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,488,000 after purchasing an additional 48,623 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Gray Television by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 696,853 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,951,000 after buying an additional 36,312 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.64% of the company’s stock.

Gray Television Stock Performance

NYSE:GTN opened at $3.44 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $4.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $4.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $342.85 million, a P/E ratio of 2.29, a P/E/G ratio of 0.13 and a beta of 1.39. Gray Television has a 12-month low of $2.91 and a 12-month high of $10.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.76.

Gray Television (NYSE:GTN) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). Gray Television had a net margin of 5.69% and a return on equity of 9.60%. The company had revenue of $950.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $967.49 million. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.57) earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Gray Television will post 3.06 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 issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.30%. Gray Television’s payout ratio is 21.33%.

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.