Bank of New York Mellon Corp Lowers Stock Holdings in Gray Media Inc. (NYSE:GTN)

Key Points

• The Bank of New York Mellon Corp has sold 59,222 shares of Gray Media Inc., reducing its holdings by 6.1%, and now owns approximately 0.90% of the company valued at $3.9 million.
• Gray Media's recent earnings report beat analyst expectations, reporting an EPS of ($0.23), surpassing the consensus estimate of ($0.49).
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.08, representing a yield of 6.46%, with a dividend payout ratio of 13.85%.

Bank of New York Mellon Corp cut its holdings in Gray Media Inc. (NYSE:GTN - Free Report) by 6.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 911,393 shares of the company's stock after selling 59,222 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned 0.90% of Gray Media worth $3,937,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Miller Value Partners LLC increased its holdings in Gray Media by 132.1% in the 4th quarter. Miller Value Partners LLC now owns 3,384,450 shares of the company's stock valued at $10,661,000 after purchasing an additional 1,926,330 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in Gray Media by 903.0% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 719,201 shares of the company's stock worth $2,265,000 after acquiring an additional 808,764 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Gray Media during the 4th quarter worth about $2,170,000. Marshall Wace LLP raised its position in Gray Media by 52.6% in the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,161,862 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,660,000 after purchasing an additional 400,274 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ExodusPoint Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Gray Media in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,261,000. 78.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GTN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Benchmark dropped their price objective on Gray Media from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Gray Media from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Gray Media from $4.00 to $4.50 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $6.17.

Insider Activity at Gray Media

In other Gray Media news, CFO Jeffrey R. Gignac purchased 12,500 shares of Gray Media stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $3.68 per share, with a total value of $46,000.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer directly owned 644,599 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,372,124.32. This represents a 1.98% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 15.22% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Gray Media Price Performance

Shares of GTN traded down $0.13 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $4.74. The company's stock had a trading volume of 189,843 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,466,368. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.48. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $4.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of $4.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $481.10 million, a P/E ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.19. Gray Media Inc. has a 1-year low of $2.91 and a 1-year high of $6.61.

Gray Media (NYSE:GTN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported ($0.23) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.49) by $0.26. The business had revenue of $782.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $772.71 million. Gray Media had a return on equity of 12.75% and a net margin of 7.72%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.79 EPS. Analysts predict that Gray Media Inc. will post 3.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gray Media Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th were issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 13th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.75%. Gray Media's dividend payout ratio is currently 13.85%.

Gray Media 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.