Gray Media (NYSE:GTN) Stock Price Up 8% Following Dividend Announcement

Key Points

• Gray Media's stock (NYSE:GTN) rose 8% to $5.46 following the announcement of a dividend of $0.08 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 5.8%.
• Several analysts have issued upgrades to Gray Media, with Benchmark raising its price target from $7.00 to $9.00 and Barrington Research changing its rating from "hold" to "strong buy" with a target of $6.50.
• Gray Media reported a net loss of ($0.42) earnings per share for the last quarter, falling short of analysts’ expectations, despite generating $772 million in revenue.

Gray Media Inc. (NYSE:GTN - Get Free Report)'s stock price traded up 8% on Tuesday after the company announced a dividend. The company traded as high as $5.40 and last traded at $5.46. 301,489 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 80% from the average session volume of 1,487,463 shares. The stock had previously closed at $5.06.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. Gray Media's dividend payout ratio is currently 21.19%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Barrington Research raised Gray Media from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $6.50 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Benchmark restated a "buy" rating and set a $9.00 price objective (up from $7.00) on shares of Gray Media in a report on Monday, August 11th. Guggenheim upped their price objective on Gray Media from $6.00 to $7.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Gray Media from $4.50 to $5.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Gray Media from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $6.88.

Gray Media Trading Down 1.8%

The firm has a market capitalization of $598.09 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.90 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.56, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.87. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $4.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $4.21.

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

Insider Transactions at Gray Media

In related news, CFO Jeffrey R. Gignac purchased 12,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 5th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $3.68 per share, for a total transaction of $46,000.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer owned 644,599 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,372,124.32. This trade represents a 1.98% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 15.22% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Gray Media

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Two Sigma Investments LP increased its holdings 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. purchased a new position in Gray Media in the 4th quarter valued at about $402,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in Gray Media by 49.2% in the 4th 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 buying an additional 117,827 shares during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS boosted its position in Gray Media by 481.0% in the 1st quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 79,600 shares of the company's stock valued at $344,000 after buying an additional 65,900 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Graham Capital Management L.P. purchased a new position in Gray Media in the 4th quarter valued at about $584,000. 78.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.