Short Interest in Gray Television, Inc. (NYSE:GTN) Decreases By 19.3%

Gray Television, Inc. (NYSE:GTN) was the recipient 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. Approximately 4.4% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,470,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.5 days.

Insider Activity

In other Gray Television news, Director Richard Lee Boger sold 16,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.85, for a total transaction of $61,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 55,347 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $213,085.95. This trade represents a 22.43 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 4.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Gray Television

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of GTN. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted 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 purchasing an additional 2,654 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio boosted its holdings in Gray Television by 30.0% in the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 14,146 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 3,262 shares during the period. Mariner LLC grew its position in shares of Gray Television by 18.7% during the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 21,740 shares of the company’s stock worth $68,000 after buying an additional 3,419 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Gray Television by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 336,905 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,061,000 after purchasing an additional 3,737 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd raised its stake in Gray Television by 27.4% in the third quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 19,006 shares of the company’s stock valued at $102,000 after buying an additional 4,083 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised Gray Television from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $4.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Guggenheim cut their target price on shares of Gray Television from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $6.33.

Gray Television Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GTN traded up $0.20 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $5.13. 2,178,256 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,332,598. Gray Television has a 1 year low of $2.91 and a 1 year 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. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $3.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $4.35. The company has a market cap of $520.41 million, a P/E ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 1.45.

Gray Television (NYSE:GTN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $1.59 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59. The business 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%. Equities analysts predict that Gray Television will post 3.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gray Television Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Gray Television’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.61%.

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, Telemundo, THE365, and Outlaw; and local news/weather channels in various markets.