Yahoo Finance Gray Television (NYSE:GTN) Has Announced A Dividend Of $0.08
Gray Television, Inc. (NYSE:GTN) will pay a dividend of $0.08 on the 31st of March. Based on this payment, the dividend yield will be 2.6%, which is fairly typical for the industry.
Check out our latest analysis for Gray Television
Gray Television's Earnings Easily Cover The Distributions
Unless the payments are sustainable, the dividend yield doesn't mean too much. However, prior to this announcement, Gray Television's dividend was comfortably covered by both cash flow and earnings. This means that most of what the business earns is being used to help it grow.
EPS is set to fall by 72.5% over the next 12 months. Assuming the dividend continues along recent trends, we believe the payout ratio could be 26%, which we are pretty comfortable with and we think is feasible on an earnings basis.
Gray Television Doesn't Have A Long Payment History
The dividend has been pretty stable looking back, but the company hasn't been paying one for very long. This makes it tough to judge how it would fare through a full economic cycle. The most recent annual payment of $0.32 is about the same as the annual payment 2 years ago. Modest dividend growth is good to see, especially with the payments being relatively stable. However, the payment history is relatively short and we wouldn't want to rely on this dividend too much.
Gray Television May Find It Hard To Grow The Dividend
Some investors will be chomping at the bit to buy some of the company's stock based on its dividend history. Earnings has been rising at 4.3% per annum over the last five years, which admittedly is a bit slow. If Gray Television is struggling to find viable investments, it always has the option to increase its payout ratio to pay more to shareholders.
Our Thoughts On Gray Television's Dividend
Overall, we think Gray Television is a solid choice as a dividend stock, even though the dividend wasn't raised this year. The payout ratio looks good, but unfortunately the company's dividend track record isn't stellar. The dividend looks okay, but there have been some issues in the past, so we would be a little bit cautious.
It's important to note that companies having a consistent dividend policy will generate greater investor confidence than those having an erratic one. At the same time, there are other factors our readers should be conscious of before pouring capital into a stock. To that end, Gray Television has 2 warning signs (and 1 which doesn't sit too well with us) we think you should know about. If you are a dividend investor, you might also want to look at our curated list of high yield dividend stocks.
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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
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