Short Interest in Gray Television, Inc. (NYSE:GTN) Increases By 7.2%

Gray Television, Inc. (NYSE:GTN) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,680,000 shares, an increase of 7.2% from the October 15th total of 5,300,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,090,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.2 days. Approximately 6.9% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Gray Television Stock Up 4.7 %

NYSE:GTN traded up $0.36 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $8.05. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,110,743 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,033,440. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.08, a current ratio of 1.20 and a quick ratio of 1.20. The company has a market cap of $768.41 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.03 and a beta of 1.68. Gray Television has a one year low of $5.97 and a one year high of $14.40. The business’s 50-day moving average is $6.88 and its 200-day moving average is $7.63.

Gray Television (NYSE:GTN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 8th. The company reported ($0.57) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.31) by ($0.26). Gray Television had a return on equity of 5.78% and a net margin of 3.41%. The company had revenue of $803.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $798.46 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.03 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Gray Television will post -0.74 EPS for the current year.

Gray Television Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 15th will be given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.98%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 14th. Gray Television’s dividend payout ratio is 43.84%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $12.00 target price on shares of Gray Television in a research note on Monday, August 7th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Gray Television in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. They set a “sell” rating for the company. TheStreet downgraded shares of Gray Television from a “c” rating to a “d+” rating in a research note on Friday, November 10th. Guggenheim reduced their price objective on Gray Television from $15.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 8th. Finally, Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $12.00 target price on shares of Gray Television in a research report on Thursday, August 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $12.60.

Institutional Trading of Gray Television

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Darsana Capital Partners LP boosted its stake in Gray Television by 336.8% during the 3rd quarter. Darsana Capital Partners LP now owns 4,000,441 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,683,000 after purchasing an additional 3,084,578 shares during the period. Capital Management Corp VA bought a new stake in shares of Gray Television in the second quarter valued at approximately $17,570,000. Baupost Group LLC MA acquired a new stake in shares of Gray Television in the first quarter worth $28,491,000. UBS Group AG increased its position in Gray Television by 46.1% during the first quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 3,063,320 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,712,000 after acquiring an additional 966,251 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Gray Television during the 4th quarter valued at $9,115,000. 77.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.