Gray Television, Inc. (NYSE:GTN) Short Interest Up 6.0% in December

Gray Television, Inc. (NYSE:GTN - Get Free Report) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,770,000 shares, a growth of 6.0% from the November 30th total of 4,500,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,290,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.7 days. Currently, 5.6% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Gray Television Price Performance

GTN traded up $0.18 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $3.15. The stock had a trading volume of 2,657,589 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,304,042. Gray Television has a 1 year low of $2.91 and a 1 year high of $10.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.76, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.13. The business has a fifty day moving average of $4.31 and a 200 day moving average of $4.89. The company has a market cap of $313.95 million, a P/E ratio of 2.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.14 and a beta of 1.36.

Gray Television (NYSE:GTN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). Gray Television had a return on equity of 9.60% and a net margin of 5.69%. The business had revenue of $950.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $967.49 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.57) earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Gray Television will post 2.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gray Television Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.16%. Gray Television's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.33%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Kevin Paul Latek sold 150,216 shares of the business's 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 509,212 shares in the company, valued at $2,225,256.44. The trade was a 22.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 13.83% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Gray Television by 9.9% in the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 61,763 shares of the company's stock worth $321,000 after purchasing an additional 5,555 shares during the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Gray Television during the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Versor Investments LP bought a new stake in Gray Television in the 2nd quarter worth $84,000. Rhumbline Advisers increased its position in shares of Gray Television by 2.6% in the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 139,642 shares of the company's stock valued at $726,000 after acquiring an additional 3,544 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Gray Television by 463.3% during the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 61,846 shares of the company's stock valued at $322,000 after acquiring an additional 50,866 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.64% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on GTN shares. Benchmark cut their price objective on Gray Television from $11.00 to $8.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 11th. Guggenheim cut their price target on shares of Gray Television from $10.00 to $8.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Barrington Research raised shares of Gray Television to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Gray Television from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $6.67.

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.