Gray Television, Inc. (NYSE:GTN) Shares Bought by Clearbridge Investments LLC

Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Gray Television, Inc. (NYSE:GTN) by 0.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,283,430 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 7,965 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC owned about 1.34% of Gray Television worth $11,500,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of GTN. CWM LLC lifted its stake in Gray Television by 61.5% in the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,017 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 1,149 shares in the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp raised its stake in Gray Television by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 17,485 shares of the company’s stock worth $157,000 after acquiring an additional 1,644 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Gray Television by 9.1% in 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 during the period. Teza Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Gray Television by 13.6% during the third quarter. Teza Capital Management LLC now owns 20,684 shares of the company’s stock valued at $143,000 after acquiring an additional 2,470 shares during the period. Finally, Oak Thistle LLC boosted its holdings in Gray Television by 33.1% during the fourth quarter. Oak Thistle LLC now owns 14,293 shares of the company’s stock worth $128,000 after buying an additional 3,551 shares in the last quarter. 78.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barrington Research restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Gray Television in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. Loop Capital raised shares of Gray Television to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Benchmark boosted their price target on shares of Gray Television from $11.00 to $13.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Gray Television from $5.50 to $6.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Two equities research analysts have 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. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $11.40.

Gray Television Stock Performance

Shares of GTN stock traded down $0.05 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $5.64. 2,106,893 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,069,243. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.99. Gray Television, Inc. has a 12-month low of $5.44 and a 12-month high of $10.69. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $6.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $7.37.

Gray Television (NYSE:GTN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 7th. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.25. The company had revenue of $823.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $824.98 million. Gray Television had a return on equity of 2.13% and a net margin of 1.30%. The firm’s revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.48) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Gray Television, Inc. will post 5.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gray Television Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.67%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. Gray Television’s payout ratio is -266.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Gray Television

In related news, CEO Hilton H. Howell, Jr. bought 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 28th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $8.09 per share, for a total transaction of $80,900.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,982,386 shares in the company, valued at $24,127,502.74. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 4.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.