Gray Television, Inc. (NYSE:GTN) Short Interest Update

Gray Television, Inc. (NYSE:GTN – Get Rating) was the target of a large decline in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 2,600,000 shares, a decline of 6.5% from the February 13th total of 2,780,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 738,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.5 days. Currently, 3.2% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Gray Television Price Performance

Shares of Gray Television stock opened at $9.35 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.10, a quick ratio of 2.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $867.96 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.61. Gray Television has a 1-year low of $8.61 and a 1-year high of $23.80. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $11.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $13.20.

Gray Television (NYSE:GTN – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 24th. The company reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.15. Gray Television had a net margin of 12.38% and a return on equity of 23.67%. The business had revenue of $1.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.17 earnings per share. Gray Television’s revenue was up 48.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Gray Television will post -0.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gray Television Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 15th will be given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.42%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 14th. Gray Television’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.37%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on GTN. TheStreet lowered Gray Television from a “b-” rating to a “c” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 8th. Benchmark lifted their price target on Gray Television from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 27th. StockNews.com raised shares of Gray Television from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 24th. Finally, Guggenheim cut their price target on Gray Television from $19.00 to $18.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $14.20.

Insider Activity

In other Gray Television news, major shareholder Harriett J. Robinson bought 68,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 19th. The shares were bought at an average price of $17.82 per share, for a total transaction of $1,225,125.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 1,042,217 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,572,306.94. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 4.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Gray Television

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GTN. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Gray Television by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,646,405 shares of the company’s stock worth $102,546,000 after purchasing an additional 97,570 shares in the last quarter. Darsana Capital Partners LP boosted its position in Gray Television by 352.1% during the 2nd quarter. Darsana Capital Partners LP now owns 4,140,863 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,939,000 after buying an additional 3,225,000 shares during the period. Channing Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Gray Television by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC now owns 3,639,650 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,120,000 after buying an additional 109,933 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Gray Television by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,393,083 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,309,000 after purchasing an additional 64,368 shares during the period. Finally, Baupost Group LLC MA lifted its position in shares of Gray Television by 44.2% in the 3rd quarter. Baupost Group LLC MA now owns 3,260,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,683,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.33% of the company’s stock.

Gray Television Company Profile

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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.