Gray Media's (GTN) "Buy" Rating Reaffirmed at Benchmark

Key Points

• Benchmark raised its price target for Gray Media (NYSE:GTN) from $7.00 to $9.00, indicating a potential upside of 117.92% from the current share price.
• Gray Media reported a net loss of ($0.42) EPS for the last quarter, missing estimates by ($0.19), while revenue declined 6.5% year-over-year.
• Insider activity included CFO Jeffrey R. Gignac purchasing 12,500 shares at $3.68 each, reflecting the increased confidence from company executives in the stock's potential.

Gray Media (NYSE:GTN - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy" rating reissued by equities researchers at Benchmark in a report released on Monday, Marketbeat.com reports. They presently have a $9.00 target price on the stock, up from their previous target price of $7.00. Benchmark's target price indicates a potential upside of 50.88% from the stock's current price.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Gray Media from $4.00 to $4.50 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Gray Media from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Gray Media has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $6.88.

Gray Media Stock Performance

Shares of GTN traded down $0.04 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $5.97. 1,409,827 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,521,559. Gray Media has a 12 month low of $2.91 and a 12 month high of $6.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $605.69 million, a P/E ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 1.20. The business's 50-day moving average price is $4.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $4.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.56, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.87.

Gray Media (NYSE:GTN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 8th. The company reported ($0.42) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.23) by ($0.19). Gray Media had a return on equity of 10.31% and a net margin of 5.64%. The company had revenue of $772.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $765.16 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.09 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Gray Media will post 3.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 purchased at an average price of $3.68 per share, with a total value of $46,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 644,599 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,372,124.32. This trade represents a 1.98% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 15.22% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Gray Media

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Two Sigma Investments LP raised its position in Gray Media by 102.3% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 176,644 shares of the company's stock valued at $556,000 after purchasing an additional 89,319 shares in the last quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Gray Media in the 4th quarter valued at $402,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in Gray Media by 49.2% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 357,198 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,125,000 after acquiring an additional 117,827 shares in the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS lifted its holdings in Gray Media by 481.0% in the first quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 79,600 shares of the company's stock worth $344,000 after acquiring an additional 65,900 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Graham Capital Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Gray Media in the 4th quarter worth approximately $584,000. Institutional investors own 78.64% of the company's stock.

About Gray Media

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.