Gray Television, Inc. (NYSE:GTN) Given Consensus Rating of "Hold" by Analysts

Shares of Gray Television, Inc. (NYSE:GTN - Get Free Report) have earned an average rating of "Hold" from the five brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $12.80.

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on GTN. StockNews.com upgraded Gray Television to a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, December 14th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Gray Television from $6.00 to $7.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, Barrington Research reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Gray Television in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Hilton H. Howell, Jr. acquired 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 28th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $8.09 per share, for a total transaction of $80,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,982,386 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $24,127,502.74. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 11.14% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Gray Television

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of GTN. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. grew its stake in Gray Television by 35.1% in the 1st quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 6,415 shares of the company's stock worth $142,000 after acquiring an additional 1,667 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in Gray Television by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 901,178 shares of the company's stock worth $19,889,000 after acquiring an additional 3,750 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE grew its stake in Gray Television by 73.5% in the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 17,014 shares of the company's stock worth $376,000 after acquiring an additional 7,207 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Gray Television by 56.0% in the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 46,491 shares of the company's stock worth $1,026,000 after acquiring an additional 16,686 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Gray Television by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,646,405 shares of the company's stock valued at $102,546,000 after buying an additional 97,570 shares during the period. 78.64% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Gray Television Stock Up 4.3 %

Shares of Gray Television stock traded up $0.26 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $6.28. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,095,702 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,194,147. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.12. The company has a market cap of $610.42 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.52, a P/E/G ratio of 0.16 and a beta of 1.57. Gray Television has a 1-year low of $5.44 and a 1-year high of $10.69. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $7.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $7.51.

Gray Television (NYSE:GTN - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, February 23rd. The company reported ($0.24) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.16) by ($0.08). Gray Television had a negative return on equity of 3.76% and a negative net margin of 2.32%. The firm had revenue of $864.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $863.31 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.88 EPS. The business's revenue was down 19.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Gray Television will post 3.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Gray Television Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.10%. Gray Television's dividend payout ratio is currently -23.02%.

About Gray Television

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.