Gray Television (NYSE:GTN) Upgraded by StockNews.com to “Hold” Rating

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Gray Television (NYSE:GTN) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report published on Monday morning.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on GTN. Guggenheim reduced their price objective on Gray Television from $12.00 to $10.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Gray Television from $6.00 to $4.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Benchmark dropped their price objective on shares of Gray Television from $11.00 to $8.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Gray Television has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $7.33.

Gray Television Trading Up 5.3 %

Gray Television stock opened at $4.51 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $5.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $5.45. The company has a market capitalization of $449.01 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.10 and a beta of 1.47. Gray Television has a 52 week low of $3.95 and a 52 week high of $10.07. The company has a quick ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.98.

Gray Television (NYSE:GTN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 8th. The company reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.94 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $950.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $967.49 million. Gray Television had a net margin of 1.84% and a return on equity of 3.02%. The business’s revenue was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.57) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Gray Television will post 4.37 EPS for the current year.

Gray Television Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.10%. Gray Television’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.33%.

Institutional Trading of Gray Television

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in Gray Television in the 1st quarter worth $25,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in shares of Gray Television by 168.1% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 67,101 shares of the company’s stock worth $424,000 after purchasing an additional 42,075 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new position in shares of Gray Television during the 1st quarter worth about $2,010,000. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Gray Television during the 1st quarter worth about $1,093,000. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in Gray Television by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 212,937 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,346,000 after buying an additional 6,652 shares in the last quarter. 78.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.