Short Interest in Gray Television, Inc. (NYSE:GTN) Declines By 7.9%

Gray Television, Inc. (NYSE:GTN) saw a large decline in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,190,000 shares, a decline of 7.9% from the October 15th total of 4,550,000 shares. Currently, 5.0% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 1,230,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.4 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Institutional Trading of Gray Television

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GTN. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in Gray Television by 1.1% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 239,371 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,283,000 after acquiring an additional 2,654 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in Gray Television by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 91,405 shares of the company’s stock valued at $578,000 after purchasing an additional 3,068 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co raised its stake in shares of Gray Television by 13.7% in the second quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 25,633 shares of the company’s stock valued at $133,000 after acquiring an additional 3,097 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers raised its holdings in shares of Gray Television by 2.6% in the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 139,642 shares of the company’s stock valued at $726,000 after buying an additional 3,544 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dakota Wealth Management increased its position in Gray Television by 34.5% in the 2nd quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 14,753 shares of the company’s stock valued at $77,000 after acquiring an additional 3,781 shares in the last quarter. 78.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Gray Television Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GTN traded down $0.24 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $4.45. 880,452 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,274,982. The firm has a market capitalization of $443.52 million, a P/E ratio of 2.97, a P/E/G ratio of 0.13 and a beta of 1.47. Gray Television has a one year low of $3.95 and a one year high of $10.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.76, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 1.63. The company’s 50 day moving average is $5.27 and its 200 day moving average is $5.40.

Gray Television (NYSE:GTN) last released its quarterly earnings data 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). The firm had revenue of $950.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $967.49 million. Gray Television had a net margin of 5.69% and a return on equity of 9.60%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.57) earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Gray Television will post 2.7 EPS for the current year.

Gray Television Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Gray Television’s payout ratio is 21.33%.

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.