Gray Media (NYSE:GTN) Stock Price Up 8.5% - Should You Buy?

Shares of Gray Media Inc. (NYSE:GTN - Get Free Report) rose 8.5% on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $5.13 and last traded at $5.13. Approximately 1,748,145 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 21% from the average daily volume of 1,449,886 shares. The stock had previously closed at $4.73.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GTN has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Benchmark reduced their target price on Gray Media from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Gray Media from $4.00 to $4.50 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Gray Media from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Sunday, June 29th. Finally, Guggenheim reduced their price objective on Gray Media from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $6.17.

Gray Media Trading Up 10.6%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.48, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91. The company has a 50 day moving average of $4.11 and a 200 day moving average of $3.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $531.05 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.19.

Gray Media (NYSE:GTN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported ($0.23) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.49) by $0.26. The company 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 firm's quarterly revenue was down 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.79 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Gray Media Inc. will post 3.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gray Media Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th were issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.12%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 13th. Gray Media's payout ratio is currently 13.85%.

Insider Transactions at Gray Media

In related news, CFO Jeffrey R. Gignac bought 12,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 5th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $3.68 per share, for a total transaction of $46,000.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer directly owned 644,599 shares in the company, valued at $2,372,124.32. This represents a 1.98% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 15.22% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Gray Media

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio grew its holdings in shares of Gray Media by 30.0% during the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 14,146 shares of the company's stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 3,262 shares during the period. Mariner LLC grew its holdings in shares of Gray Media by 18.7% during the 4th quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 21,740 shares of the company's stock worth $68,000 after purchasing an additional 3,419 shares during the period. Choreo LLC grew its holdings in shares of Gray Media by 13.2% during the 1st quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 30,374 shares of the company's stock worth $131,000 after purchasing an additional 3,547 shares during the period. Nuveen Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Gray Media by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 336,905 shares of the company's stock worth $1,061,000 after purchasing an additional 3,737 shares during the period. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Gray Media by 157.6% during the 1st quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 8,752 shares of the company's stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 5,355 shares during the period. 78.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.

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