Gray Media Inc. (NYSE:GTN) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

Gray Media Inc. (NYSE:GTN) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totaling 4,697,024 shares, a decrease of 17.3% from the March 31st total of 5,680,873 shares. Approximately 5.0% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 1,102,660 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.3 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in shares of Gray Media by 7.4% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 464,859 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,008,000 after buying an additional 32,173 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Gray Media in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Creative Planning increased its position in shares of Gray Media by 17.3% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 63,544 shares of the company’s stock valued at $288,000 after acquiring an additional 9,358 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its position in shares of Gray Media by 19.7% during the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 91,032 shares of the company’s stock valued at $412,000 after acquiring an additional 14,976 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers increased its position in shares of Gray Media by 7.0% during the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 145,450 shares of the company’s stock valued at $659,000 after acquiring an additional 9,575 shares during the last quarter. 78.64% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on GTN shares. Benchmark raised their target price on Gray Media from $10.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Guggenheim upped their price objective on shares of Gray Media from $7.00 to $8.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Gray Media from $5.50 to $6.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Gray Media from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 28th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Gray Media from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Gray Media has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $8.13.

Gray Media Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NYSE GTN traded up $0.04 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $5.68. 720,809 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,016,089. The stock has a market cap of $588.93 million, a P/E ratio of -4.00 and a beta of 0.90. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $5.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $4.85. Gray Media has a 1-year low of $3.45 and a 1-year high of $6.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.66, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.27.

Gray Media (NYSE:GTN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported ($0.24) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.28) by $0.04. The business had revenue of $792.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $780.50 million. Gray Media had a negative return on equity of 2.51% and a negative net margin of 2.75%.The company’s quarterly revenue was down 24.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.59 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Gray Media will post 2.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gray Media Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.6%. Gray Media’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -22.54%.

Gray Media Company Profile

Gray Media (NYSE:GTN) is a U.S.-based broadcasting and digital media company that owns and operates a portfolio of local television stations and associated digital platforms. The company’s core business centers on delivering local news, sports and entertainment programming through its network-affiliated broadcast outlets. In addition to traditional over-the-air distribution, Gray Media supports multi-platform video streaming and on-demand services for audiences across its markets.

Gray Media’s television stations carry network programming from major national broadcasters, including ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox and The CW, and often feature locally produced news and public affairs content.