Gray Television (NYSE:GTN) Coverage Initiated at StockNews.com

StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Gray Television (NYSE:GTN – Get Rating) in a research report released on Thursday. The firm issued a sell rating on the stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on GTN. Guggenheim cut their target price on shares of Gray Television from $19.00 to $18.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 28th. TheStreet downgraded shares of Gray Television from a b- rating to a c rating in a research report on Thursday, December 8th. Finally, Benchmark lifted their target price on shares of Gray Television from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Monday, February 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $14.20.

Gray Television Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GTN opened at $8.36 on Thursday. Gray Television has a twelve month low of $8.32 and a twelve month high of $23.68. The firm has a market cap of $776.06 million, a P/E ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a 50 day moving average of $11.66 and a 200 day moving average of $12.94. The company has a quick ratio of 2.10, a current ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.04.

Gray Television (NYSE:GTN – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Friday, February 24th. The company reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.15. Gray Television had a net margin of 12.38% and a return on equity of 23.67%. The business had revenue of $1.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.17 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 48.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Gray Television will post -0.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gray Television Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 15th will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.83%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 14th. Gray Television’s payout ratio is 7.37%.

Insider Activity

In other Gray Television news, major shareholder Harriett J. Robinson acquired 68,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 19th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $17.82 per share, with a total value of $1,225,125.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,042,217 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,572,306.94. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 4.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its holdings in Gray Television by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 113,045 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,909,000 after buying an additional 867 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its holdings in Gray Television by 7.8% in the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 14,591 shares of the company’s stock worth $209,000 after buying an additional 1,060 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its holdings in Gray Television by 219.5% in the 2nd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,556 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 1,069 shares during the period. Guggenheim Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Gray Television by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 30,927 shares of the company’s stock worth $683,000 after buying an additional 1,118 shares during the period. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Gray Television by 21.7% in the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 6,477 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,000 after buying an additional 1,156 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.33% of the company’s stock.

About Gray Television

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Gray Television, Inc is a television broadcasting company, which engages in owning and operating television stations and digital assets in markets throughout the United States. It operates through the following segments: Broadcasting, and Production Companies. The Broadcasting segment operates television stations located across local markets in the United States.