Gray Television (NYSE:GTN) Shares Up 3.1%

Gray Television, Inc. (NYSE:GTN - Get Free Report) shares rose 3.1% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $5.76 and last traded at $5.73. Approximately 331,938 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 71% from the average daily volume of 1,160,787 shares. The stock had previously closed at $5.56.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on GTN. Barrington Research reissued a "market perform" rating on shares of Gray Television in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Gray Television from $6.00 to $7.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $12.80.

Gray Television Trading Up 1.8 %

The stock has a market cap of $550.17 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.07, a P/E/G ratio of 0.15 and a beta of 1.57. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $6.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $7.45. 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 (NYSE:GTN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 23rd. The company reported ($0.24) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.16) by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $864.00 million during 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 for the quarter was down 19.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.88 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Gray Television, Inc. will post 3.78 EPS for the current year.

Gray Television Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.65%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Gray Television's dividend payout ratio is presently -23.02%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Hilton H. Howell, Jr. purchased 10,000 shares of Gray Television stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 28th. The stock was bought at an average price of $8.09 per share, with a total value of $80,900.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 2,982,386 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,127,502.74. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 4.80% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Gray Television

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its holdings in shares of Gray Television by 219.5% during the second quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,556 shares of the company's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 1,069 shares during the period. CWM LLC raised its stake in shares of Gray Television by 61.5% during the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,017 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 1,149 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Gray Television during the first quarter valued at about $73,000. Quarry LP raised its stake in shares of Gray Television by 460.6% during the first quarter. Quarry LP now owns 5,432 shares of the company's stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 4,463 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale bought a new stake in shares of Gray Television during the third quarter valued at about $41,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.