Gray Media (NYSE:GTN) Price Target Raised to $5.00

Key Points

• Wells Fargo & Company raised its price target for Gray Media from $4.50 to $5.00, indicating a potential upside of 4.49% from the stock's previous close.
• Despite the price target increase from Wells Fargo, the consensus target price among analysts remains at $7.00 with mixed ratings of buy, hold, and sell.
• Gray Media reported a 15.9% increase in stock price during midday trading, reaching $4.79, though it still posted a loss of $0.42 EPS for the last quarter.

Gray Media (NYSE:GTN - Free Report) had its price target hoisted by Wells Fargo & Company from $4.50 to $5.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on GTN. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Gray Media from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Benchmark reissued a "buy" rating and set a $9.00 price target (up from $7.00) on shares of Gray Media in a research report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $6.88.

Gray Media Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of GTN stock traded down $0.11 on Monday, hitting $5.89. 2,487,786 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,786,747. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.56, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.87. Gray Media has a one year low of $2.91 and a one year high of $6.16. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $4.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $4.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $598.07 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.90 and a beta of 1.20.

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

Gray Media Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. Gray Media's payout ratio is 21.19%.

Insider Activity at Gray Media

In other Gray Media news, CFO Jeffrey R. Gignac purchased 12,500 shares of Gray Media stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 5th. The shares were bought at an average price of $3.68 per share, for a total transaction of $46,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 644,599 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,372,124.32. This trade represents a 1.98% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 15.22% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Gray Media in the first quarter worth about $28,000. Voleon Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Gray Media in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Gray Media in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Boothbay Fund Management LLC purchased a new stake in Gray Media in the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Gray Media by 157.6% in the first quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 8,752 shares of the company's stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 5,355 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.64% of the company's stock.

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.