Gray Television (NYSE:GTN) Shares Gap Up Following Insider Buying Activity

Gray Television, Inc. (NYSE:GTN - Get Free Report) shares gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday following insider buying activity. The stock had previously closed at $6.02, but opened at $6.20. Gray Television shares last traded at $6.24, with a volume of 175,948 shares changing hands.

Specifically, CEO Hilton H. Howell, Jr. bought 10,000 shares of Gray Television stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 28th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $8.09 per share, with a total value 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 document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 11.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on GTN. StockNews.com raised shares of Gray Television to a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, December 14th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Gray Television from $6.00 to $7.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, Barrington Research reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Gray Television in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Gray Television presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $12.80.

Gray Television Price Performance

The company's fifty day moving average price is $7.13 and its 200 day moving average price is $7.52. The company has a market capitalization of $585.63 million, a P/E ratio of -4.33, a PEG ratio of 0.17 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.12.

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

Gray Television Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.31%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Gray Television's payout ratio is currently -23.02%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Gray Television

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of GTN. Darsana Capital Partners LP raised its stake in Gray Television by 336.8% during the third quarter. Darsana Capital Partners LP now owns 4,000,441 shares of the company's stock worth $27,683,000 after buying an additional 3,084,578 shares during the last quarter. Baupost Group LLC MA bought a new position in Gray Television during the first quarter worth $28,491,000. UBS Group AG raised its stake in Gray Television by 46.1% during the first quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 3,063,320 shares of the company's stock worth $26,712,000 after buying an additional 966,251 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Gray Television during the fourth quarter worth $9,115,000. Finally, Capital Management Corp VA raised its stake in Gray Television by 27.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital Management Corp VA now owns 3,094,883 shares of the company's stock worth $27,730,000 after buying an additional 661,760 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.64% of the company's stock.

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.