Gray Media (NYSE:GTN) Raised to "Buy" at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded Gray Media to “Buy” from “Hold.” However, analyst sentiment remains mixed overall, with three Buy, two Hold and one Sell rating, producing a consensus “Hold” rating and an average target price of $7.88.
• Gray Media reported quarterly adjusted earnings of $0.21 per share, beating expectations for a $0.08 loss, while revenue reached $839 million and rose 8.7% year over year.
• GTN shares opened at $5.21, compared with a 52-week range of $3.55 to $6.43. The company remains highly leveraged, with a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, and an insider recently sold 57,000 shares to cover tax obligations.

Gray Media (NYSE:GTN - Get Free Report) was upgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

GTN has been the subject of several other research reports. Barrington Research reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $6.50 target price on shares of Gray Media in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d)" rating on shares of Gray Media in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Guggenheim cut their price objective on shares of Gray Media from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Gray Media currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $7.88.

Gray Media Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GTN opened at $5.21 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 0.95. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $4.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $4.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $536.01 million, a PE ratio of -8.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.10 and a beta of 0.94. Gray Media has a 52 week low of $3.55 and a 52 week high of $6.43.

Gray Media (NYSE:GTN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, August 7th. The company reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.08) by $0.29. The business had revenue of $839.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $795.13 million. Gray Media had a negative net margin of 0.83% and a negative return on equity of 1.12%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.71) earnings per share. Analysts predict that Gray Media will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Gray Media

In other news, Director Richard Lee Boger sold 57,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $4.40, for a total transaction of $250,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 4,591 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,200.40. This represents a 92.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. 8.95% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Gray Media

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of GTN. Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Gray Media in the first quarter worth approximately $28,000. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in Gray Media in the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its position in Gray Media by 57.1% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 7,901 shares of the company's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 2,873 shares during the period. Abel Hall LLC acquired a new stake in Gray Media during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Finally, PDT Partners LLC bought a new position in Gray Media during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $49,000. Institutional investors own 78.64% of the company's stock.

Gray Media Company Profile

Gray Media NYSE: GTN is a U.S.-based broadcasting and digital media company that owns and operates a portfolio of local television stations and associated digital platforms. The company's core business centers on delivering local news, sports and entertainment programming through its network-affiliated broadcast outlets. In addition to traditional over-the-air distribution, Gray Media supports multi-platform video streaming and on-demand services for audiences across its markets.

Gray Media's television stations carry network programming from major national broadcasters, including ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox and The CW, and often feature locally produced news and public affairs content.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

Continue following MarketBeat

Add MarketBeat as your preferred source on Google to see our latest stories in your feed.

Add As Preferred Source