Benchmark Has Lowered Expectations for Gray Television (NYSE:GTN) Stock Price

Gray Television (NYSE:GTN) had its price objective trimmed by Benchmark from $11.00 to $8.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Gray Television from $6.00 to $4.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 9th. Guggenheim cut their price target on Gray Television from $12.00 to $10.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $6.67.

Gray Television Stock Performance

Shares of GTN stock opened at $4.40 on Monday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $5.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $5.43. Gray Television has a one year low of $3.95 and a one year high of $10.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $438.04 million, a PE ratio of 2.93, a PEG ratio of 0.10 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.76, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 1.63.

Gray Television (NYSE:GTN) last announced its earnings results on Friday, November 8th. The company reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.94 by ($0.08). Gray Television had a net margin of 5.69% and a return on equity of 9.60%. The company had revenue of $950.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $967.49 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.57) earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Gray Television will post 4.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Gray Television Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.28%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Gray Television’s payout ratio is 21.33%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Gray Television

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GTN. Capital Management Corp VA raised its position in shares of Gray Television by 27.6% during the third quarter. Capital Management Corp VA now owns 5,408,269 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,988,000 after purchasing an additional 1,170,990 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund raised its position in shares of Gray Television by 232.4% during the first quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 813,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,138,000 after purchasing an additional 568,400 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Gray Television by 9.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,662,398 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,786,000 after purchasing an additional 506,106 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new position in shares of Gray Television during the first quarter worth approximately $2,010,000. Finally, Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Gray Television during the first quarter worth approximately $1,093,000. 78.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.