Gray Television, Inc. (NYSE:GTN – Get Rating) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest during the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,780,000 shares, a drop of 5.8% from the January 31st total of 2,950,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 745,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.7 days. Currently, 3.4% of the shares of the company are short sold.
Gray Television Stock Performance
Shares of GTN opened at $11.46 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $11.96 and its 200-day moving average is $13.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 2.64, a P/E/G ratio of 22.92 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.04, a current ratio of 2.10 and a quick ratio of 2.09. Gray Television has a 12-month low of $8.61 and a 12-month high of $23.99.
Gray Television (NYSE:GTN – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 24th. The company reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $1.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.04 billion. Gray Television had a net margin of 12.38% and a return on equity of 23.67%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 48.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.17 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Gray Television will post 0.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Gray Television Announces Dividend
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 15th will be issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 14th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.79%. Gray Television’s payout ratio is currently 7.37%.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of research firms have commented on GTN. Barrington Research dropped their price target on shares of Gray Television from $25.00 to $15.00 in a research report on Thursday, November 10th. Stephens dropped their price target on shares of Gray Television from $18.00 to $12.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 7th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Gray Television from an “overweight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $25.00 to $7.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 9th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Gray Television from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 24th. Finally, TheStreet downgraded shares of Gray Television from a “b-” rating to a “c” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Gray Television has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $17.33.
Insider Activity at Gray Television
In other news, major shareholder Harriett J. Robinson acquired 68,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 19th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $17.82 per share, for a total transaction of $1,225,125.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,042,217 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,572,306.94. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 4.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
Institutional Trading of Gray Television
A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of Gray Television by 0.8% in the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 113,045 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,909,000 after purchasing an additional 867 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its holdings in shares of Gray Television by 7.8% during the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 14,591 shares of the company’s stock worth $209,000 after acquiring an additional 1,060 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors raised 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 worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 1,069 shares in the last quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Gray Television by 3.8% during the first quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 30,927 shares of the company’s stock worth $683,000 after acquiring an additional 1,118 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Gray Television by 21.7% during the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 6,477 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,000 after acquiring an additional 1,156 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.33% of the company’s stock.
About Gray Television
Gray Television, Inc is a television broadcasting company, which engages in owning and operating television stations and digital assets in markets throughout the United States. It operates through the following segments: Broadcasting, and Production Companies. The Broadcasting segment operates television stations located across local markets in the United States.