Gray Television, Inc. (NYSE:GTN) Given Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Shares of Gray Television, Inc. (NYSE:GTN - Get Free Report) have received an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the five research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has assigned a hold recommendation, two have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $6.67.

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Guggenheim reduced their target price on shares of Gray Television from $10.00 to $8.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Gray Television from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Barrington Research raised shares of Gray Television to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Benchmark cut their price target on Gray Television from $11.00 to $8.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 11th.

Gray Television Trading Up 2.7 %

GTN stock traded up $0.09 during trading on Friday, hitting $3.44. The company had a trading volume of 1,834,913 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,460,506. The stock has a market cap of $342.86 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.29, a PEG ratio of 0.13 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.76. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $4.22 and a 200-day moving average price of $4.86. Gray Television has a 12 month low of $2.91 and a 12 month high of $10.07.

Gray Television (NYSE:GTN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, November 8th. The company reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.94 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $950.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $967.49 million. Gray Television had a return on equity of 9.60% and a net margin of 5.69%. The company's revenue was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.57) EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Gray Television will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Gray Television Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.30%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. Gray Television's payout ratio is 21.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Gray Television

In other Gray Television news, EVP Kevin Paul Latek sold 150,216 shares of Gray Television stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $4.37, for a total transaction of $656,443.92. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 509,212 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,225,256.44. The trade was a 22.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 4.80% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Gray Television

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Gray Television by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 696,853 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,951,000 after purchasing an additional 36,312 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in Gray Television in the third quarter valued at approximately $59,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Gray Television by 15.0% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 180,677 shares of the company's stock valued at $968,000 after buying an additional 23,551 shares during the period. Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of Gray Television by 114.4% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 272,272 shares of the company's stock worth $1,460,000 after acquiring an additional 145,263 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Gray Television by 3.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,971,374 shares of the company's stock worth $10,568,000 after acquiring an additional 57,481 shares during the period. 78.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.