Benchmark Raises Gray Television (NYSE:GTN) Price Target to $13.00

Gray Television (NYSE:GTN - Free Report) had its price target upped by Benchmark from $11.00 to $13.00 in a research report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on GTN. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Gray Television from $5.50 to $6.00 and gave the stock an underweight rating in a report on Wednesday. Barrington Research reissued a market perform rating on shares of Gray Television in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $11.40.

Gray Television Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of GTN traded up $0.04 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $6.74. The stock had a trading volume of 1,219,594 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,132,141. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $5.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $7.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $655.13 million, a P/E ratio of -4.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.15 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.12, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 1.18. Gray Television has a 1-year low of $5.44 and a 1-year high of $10.69.

Gray Television (NYSE:GTN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.25. The business had revenue of $823.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $824.98 million. Gray Television had a negative net margin of 2.32% and a negative return on equity of 3.76%. Gray Television's quarterly revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.48) EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Gray Television will post 4.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gray Television Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.75%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Gray Television's dividend payout ratio is -23.02%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Hilton H. Howell, Jr. acquired 10,000 shares of Gray Television stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 28th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $8.09 per share, for a total transaction of $80,900.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 2,982,386 shares in the company, valued at $24,127,502.74. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 13.83% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Gray Television

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GTN. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in Gray Television during the first quarter valued at $25,000. CWM LLC lifted its position in Gray Television by 61.5% in the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,017 shares of the company's stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 1,149 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale bought a new position in Gray Television during the third quarter valued at $41,000. Sonora Investment Management Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Gray Television during the 3rd quarter worth about $73,000. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. bought a new position in Gray Television during the 3rd quarter valued at about $85,000. 78.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Gray Television Company 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.