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

Gray Television, Inc. (NYSE:GTN) was the target of a large decline in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 3,690,000 shares, a decline of 19.3% from the February 13th total of 4,570,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,470,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.5 days. Approximately 4.4% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Gray Television Stock Performance

Shares of Gray Television stock opened at $4.68 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $3.77 and a two-hundred day moving average of $4.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $474.71 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 1.45. Gray Television has a 52 week low of $2.91 and a 52 week high of $7.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.76, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.13.

Gray Television (NYSE:GTN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $1.59 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.59. The company had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.04 billion. Gray Television had a net margin of 5.69% and a return on equity of 9.60%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Gray Television will post 3.32 EPS for the current year.

Gray Television Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Gray Television’s payout ratio is 9.61%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GTN has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Guggenheim dropped their price objective on shares of Gray Television from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Gray Television from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $4.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $6.33.

Insider Transactions at Gray Television

In related news, Director Richard Lee Boger sold 16,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.85, for a total value of $61,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 55,347 shares in the company, valued at $213,085.95. The trade was a 22.43 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 4.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Gray Television

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in GTN. Atria Investments Inc increased its position in shares of Gray Television by 367.2% in the 3rd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 63,901 shares of the company’s stock valued at $343,000 after buying an additional 50,223 shares in the last quarter. Versor Investments LP increased its position in shares of Gray Television by 40.7% in the 3rd quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 22,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $122,000 after buying an additional 6,600 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in shares of Gray Television by 20.1% in the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 411,449 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,205,000 after buying an additional 68,795 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Gray Television in the 3rd quarter valued at $143,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in shares of Gray Television by 109.3% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 127,497 shares of the company’s stock valued at $683,000 after buying an additional 66,578 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.64% of the company’s stock.

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.