Comparing Gray Media (GTN) and Its Peers

Gray Media (NYSE:GTN) is one of 257 publicly-traded companies in the “Media” industry, but how does it compare to its peers? We will compare Gray Media to related businesses based on the strength of its dividends, profitability, risk, analyst recommendations, earnings, institutional ownership and valuation.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

78.6% of Gray Media shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 38.1% of shares of all “Media” companies are owned by institutional investors. 8.9% of Gray Media shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 17.5% of shares of all “Media” companies are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Gray Media and its peers, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Gray Media	1	2	3	0	2.33
Gray Media Competitors	2322	6910	10759	489	2.46

Gray Media currently has a consensus price target of $7.88, indicating a potential upside of 60.88%. As a group, “Media” companies have a potential upside of 25.68%. Given Gray Media’s higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe Gray Media is more favorable than its peers.

Profitability

This table compares Gray Media and its peers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Gray Media	-0.83%	-1.12%	-0.23%
Gray Media Competitors	-19.68%	-48.15%	-4.99%

Risk & Volatility

Gray Media has a beta of 1.01, indicating that its stock price is 1% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Gray Media’s peers have a beta of 0.96, indicating that their average stock price is 4% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Gray Media and its peers gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Gray Media	$3.10 billion	-$85.00 million	-8.02
Gray Media Competitors	$2.97 billion	$35.12 million	7.29

Gray Media has higher revenue, but lower earnings than its peers. Gray Media is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its peers, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Dividends

Gray Media pays an annual dividend of $0.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.5%. Gray Media pays out -52.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Media” companies pay a dividend yield of 5.2% and pay out 99.9% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Gray Media is clearly a better dividend stock than its peers, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Summary

Gray Media beats its peers on 9 of the 15 factors compared.

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. It owns and operates television stations and digital assets that serve television markets in the United States. The company was formerly known as Gray Communications Systems, Inc. and changed its name to Gray Television, Inc. in August 2002. Gray Television, Inc. was founded in 1891 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.