Royce & Associates LP Makes New $143,000 Investment in Gray Media Inc. (NYSE:GTN)

Royce & Associates LP acquired a new position in shares of Gray Media Inc. (NYSE:GTN) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 33,133 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $143,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Capital Management Corp VA raised its holdings in Gray Media by 19.2% during the 1st quarter. Capital Management Corp VA now owns 6,867,026 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,666,000 after buying an additional 1,103,690 shares during the period. Miller Value Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Gray Media by 132.1% in the 4th quarter. Miller Value Partners LLC now owns 3,384,450 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,661,000 after purchasing an additional 1,926,330 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP increased its holdings in shares of Gray Media by 52.6% in the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,161,862 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,660,000 after purchasing an additional 400,274 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Gray Media by 7.8% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 846,849 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,668,000 after purchasing an additional 61,562 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Gray Media by 903.0% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 719,201 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,265,000 after purchasing an additional 808,764 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.64% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Jeffrey R. Gignac purchased 12,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 5th. The shares were bought at an average price of $3.68 per share, for a total transaction of $46,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer directly owned 644,599 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,372,124.32. This trade represents a 1.98% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 15.22% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Gray Media Trading Down 3.9%

NYSE:GTN opened at $4.68 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $4.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $4.08. Gray Media Inc. has a 52 week low of $2.91 and a 52 week high of $6.61. The company has a market capitalization of $475.31 million, a P/E ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.48, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91.

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

Gray Media Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 13th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.84%. Gray Media’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.85%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on GTN shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Gray Media from $4.00 to $4.50 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Gray Media from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 12th. Finally, Benchmark dropped their price objective on Gray Media from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $6.17.

Gray Media 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.