Gray Television (NYSE:GTN) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.25 EPS

Gray Television (NYSE:GTN) posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday. The company reported $0.79 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.54 by $0.25, Briefing.com reports. Gray Television had a negative net margin of 2.32% and a negative return on equity of 3.76%. The business had revenue of $823.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $824.98 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.48) earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year.

Gray Television Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:GTN traded up $0.06 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $6.76. 791,110 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,126,846. The stock has a market capitalization of $657.07 million, a P/E ratio of -4.79, a PEG ratio of 0.15 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.12, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 1.18. Gray Television has a 12-month low of $5.44 and a 12-month high of $10.69. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $5.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $7.39.

Gray Television Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.73%. Gray Television’s dividend payout ratio is currently -23.02%.

Insider Transactions at Gray Television

In related news, CEO Hilton H. Howell, Jr. acquired 10,000 shares of Gray Television stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 28th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $8.09 per share, for a total transaction of $80,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,982,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,127,502.74. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 13.83% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GTN has been the subject of several recent research reports. Benchmark raised their price objective on shares of Gray Television from $11.00 to $13.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Barrington Research reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Gray Television in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Gray Television from $5.50 to $6.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $11.40.

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.