Short Interest in Gray Television, Inc. (NYSE:GTN) Expands By 10.3%

Gray Television, Inc. (NYSE:GTN) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,620,000 shares, an increase of 10.3% from the October 31st total of 4,190,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,210,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.8 days. Currently, 5.5% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GTN has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Guggenheim dropped their price target on Gray Television from $10.00 to $8.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Barrington Research raised Gray Television to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Benchmark dropped their target price on Gray Television from $11.00 to $8.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 11th. StockNews.com raised shares of Gray Television from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Gray Television from $6.00 to $4.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $6.67.

Gray Television Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE GTN traded down $0.02 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $4.32. The stock had a trading volume of 252,722 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,271,113. 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 company has a market cap of $430.56 million, a P/E ratio of 2.85, a PEG ratio of 0.15 and a beta of 1.36. Gray Television has a fifty-two week low of $3.95 and a fifty-two week high of $10.07. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $5.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $5.21.

Gray Television (NYSE:GTN) last released its earnings results on Friday, November 8th. The company reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by ($0.08). Gray Television had a net margin of 5.69% and a return on equity of 9.60%. The company had revenue of $950.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $967.49 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.57) earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Gray Television will post 2.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gray Television Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.41%. Gray Television’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.33%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Gray Television news, EVP Kevin Paul Latek sold 150,216 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were 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 $2,225,256.44. This represents a 22.78 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 4.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Gray Television by 9.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,662,398 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,786,000 after acquiring an additional 506,106 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP raised its stake in shares of Gray Television by 287.9% in the 3rd quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 232,832 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,248,000 after buying an additional 172,801 shares in the last quarter. Capital Management Corp VA grew its stake in Gray Television by 27.6% during the third quarter. Capital Management Corp VA now owns 5,408,269 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,988,000 after buying an additional 1,170,990 shares during the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its position in Gray Television by 454.2% in the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 142,541 shares of the company’s stock valued at $741,000 after acquiring an additional 116,821 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Diversified Trust Co raised its holdings in Gray Television by 13.7% during the 2nd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 25,633 shares of the company’s stock worth $133,000 after purchasing an additional 3,097 shares during the last quarter. 78.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.