Gray Media (NYSE:GTN) Cut to Sell at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Gray Media (NYSE:GTN) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report released on Sunday.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on GTN. Benchmark cut their target price on shares of Gray Media from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Guggenheim dropped their price objective on shares of Gray Media from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Gray Media from $4.00 to $4.50 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $6.17.

Gray Media Stock Up 2.2%

Shares of NYSE GTN opened at $4.63 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $470.13 million, a PE ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.19. Gray Media has a 12-month low of $2.91 and a 12-month high of $6.61. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $3.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $3.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.48.

Gray Media (NYSE:GTN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported ($0.23) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.49) by $0.26. The business had revenue of $782.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $772.71 million. Gray Media had a net margin of 7.72% and a return on equity of 12.75%. Gray Media’s revenue was down 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.79 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Gray Media will post 3.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gray Media Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th were paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.91%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 13th. Gray Media’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Gray Media

In other Gray Media news, CFO Jeffrey R. Gignac acquired 12,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 5th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $3.68 per share, with a total value of $46,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer owned 644,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,372,124.32. This represents a 1.98% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 15.22% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Invst LLC bought a new position in shares of Gray Media during the first quarter valued at about $2,018,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Gray Media during the first quarter valued at about $28,000. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in shares of Gray Media by 7.4% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 464,859 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,008,000 after purchasing an additional 32,173 shares in the last quarter. Aristeia Capital L.L.C. bought a new position in shares of Gray Media during the first quarter valued at about $820,000. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd lifted its position in shares of Gray Media by 21.8% during the first quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 164,086 shares of the company’s stock valued at $709,000 after purchasing an additional 29,319 shares in the last quarter. 78.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Gray Media

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.