Gray Television, Inc. (NYSE:GTN – Get Free Report) saw a significant increase in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,110,000 shares, an increase of 22.8% from the December 15th total of 4,160,000 shares. Currently, 6.2% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,130,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.5 days.
Gray Television Stock Down 0.4 %
GTN stock opened at $9.18 on Friday. Gray Television has a twelve month low of $5.97 and a twelve month high of $14.40. The company has a market cap of $876.32 million, a PE ratio of 12.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.23 and a beta of 1.71. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $8.32 and its 200 day simple moving average is $7.94. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.08.
Gray Television (NYSE:GTN – Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 8th. The company reported ($0.57) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.31) by ($0.26). Gray Television had a return on equity of 5.78% and a net margin of 3.41%. The firm had revenue of $803.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $798.46 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.03 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Gray Television will post -1.37 earnings per share for the current year.
Gray Television Announces Dividend
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 15th were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 14th. Gray Television’s payout ratio is 43.84%.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Gray Television
A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its holdings in Gray Television by 0.8% during 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. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its holdings in Gray Television by 219.5% during the second quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,556 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,069 shares in the last quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Gray Television by 3.8% during the first quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 30,927 shares of the company’s stock valued at $683,000 after purchasing an additional 1,118 shares in the last quarter. Credit Suisse AG boosted its holdings in Gray Television by 2.1% during the third quarter. Credit Suisse AG now owns 73,320 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,051,000 after purchasing an additional 1,509 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Gray Television by 9.1% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 19,990 shares of the company’s stock valued at $138,000 after purchasing an additional 1,665 shares in the last quarter. 77.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
A number of equities analysts have recently commented on GTN shares. StockNews.com upgraded Gray Television to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 14th. TheStreet lowered Gray Television from a “c” rating to a “d+” rating in a research note on Friday, November 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Gray Television from $7.00 to $6.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Gray Television presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $12.60.
Gray Television Company Profile
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, Antenna TV, Telemundo, and Cozi; and local news/weather channels in various markets.