Gray Television, Inc. (NYSE:GTN) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Gray Television, Inc. (NYSE:GTN) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the five research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $6.33.

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on GTN shares. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Gray Television from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $4.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Guggenheim dropped their price target on Gray Television from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 10th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Gray Television

In other news, Director Richard Lee Boger sold 16,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.85, for a total transaction of $61,600.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 55,347 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $213,085.95. This trade represents a 22.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 15.22% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Gray Television

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Gray Television by 10.2% during the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 70,031 shares of the company’s stock worth $374,000 after buying an additional 6,480 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Gray Television by 1.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,009,896 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,773,000 after acquiring an additional 36,541 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC bought a new stake in Gray Television during the third quarter worth approximately $65,000. Barclays PLC lifted its position in Gray Television by 114.4% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 272,272 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,460,000 after purchasing an additional 145,263 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Gray Television by 3.0% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.64% of the company’s stock.

Gray Television Price Performance

GTN opened at $3.40 on Tuesday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $345.25 million, a P/E ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.08. Gray Television has a 1-year low of $2.91 and a 1-year high of $7.41. The company has a 50-day moving average of $3.92 and a 200-day moving average of $4.11.

Gray Television (NYSE:GTN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $1.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting 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%. Equities analysts expect that Gray Television will post 3.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gray Television Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.41%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Gray Television’s payout ratio is 9.61%.

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.