Gray Television, Inc. (NYSE:GTN) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Gray Television, Inc. (NYSE:GTN) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 6,690,000 shares, an increase of 26.2% from the March 15th total of 5,300,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,200,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.6 days. Currently, 8.2% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Hilton H. Howell, Jr. bought 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 28th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $8.09 per share, for a total transaction of $80,900.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 2,982,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,127,502.74. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 4.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Gray Television

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of GTN. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Gray Television by 23.1% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,060,987 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,262,000 after buying an additional 386,907 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new stake in shares of Gray Television during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,693,000. Darsana Capital Partners LP grew its stake in Gray Television by 336.8% in the 3rd quarter. Darsana Capital Partners LP now owns 4,000,441 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,683,000 after buying an additional 3,084,578 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Gray Television during the fourth quarter worth approximately $964,000. Finally, Swiss National Bank grew its position in shares of Gray Television by 2.8% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 181,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,258,000 after purchasing an additional 4,900 shares during the last quarter. 78.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Gray Television from $6.00 to $7.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Barrington Research reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Gray Television in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Gray Television has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $12.80.

Gray Television Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of GTN stock traded up $0.10 on Monday, reaching $5.66. 939,991 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,169,939. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $6.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $7.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.12, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 1.18. The stock has a market cap of $550.17 million, a PE ratio of -4.07, a P/E/G ratio of 0.15 and a beta of 1.57. Gray Television has a one year low of $5.44 and a one year high of $10.69.

Gray Television (NYSE:GTN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 23rd. The company reported ($0.24) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.16) by ($0.08). Gray Television had a negative return on equity of 3.76% and a negative net margin of 2.32%. The business had revenue of $864.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $863.31 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.88 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 19.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Gray Television will post 3.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gray Television Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.65%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Gray Television’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -23.02%.

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.