• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, May 13, 2008

Gray Television's stock may be trading well below its 52-week high and the station group may be grappling with the economic downturn, but its president-COO has been aggressively buying up stock--and so far, losing money in the process.

Records show Bob Prather picked up 9,250 shares in four separate purchases between April 29 and May 2 at prices between $4.54 and $6.08 a share.

The stock Monday was trading at about $4.30 (down from the 52-week high of $10.86).

As of May 2, Prather owned 150,000 total shares, valued today at $645,000. He said 90% of his net worth is in Gray stock.

Gray operates 36 stations in 30 small- and mid-size markets, with a focus on college towns, such as Lincoln, Neb., Lexington, Ky., Knoxville, Tenn., and South Bend, Ind.

On a conference call last week to discuss the company's recent performance, Prather said the stock is "way undervalued. Every time I buy (shares), I think I'm stealing at the price I'm paying."

"I haven't been faring too well lately," he admitted. "But I've got 100% faith in the strength of our company."

He added that "most of the television stocks right now (are undervalued). Our whole industry has been unfortunately painted with the old-media brush."

Gray has been aggressive in its attempts to dispel those notions, hiring a dedicated digital sales executive at each station as it ramps up its Web sites and launches a slew of digital multicast channels.

Also singing the "undervalued" theme is Sinclair Broadcasting CEO David Smith, who said last week the company has considered going private with its share price trading below what be believes to be fair value. The share price Monday was $9.29, down from a 52-week high of $16.15.

Among other station groups, Hearst-Argyle--where large stakeholder Hearst Corp. made a bid to take it private last year--was trading at $20.60, down from a 52-week high of $26.87.

Nexstar was trading at $6.34, and LIN TV at $9.24, down from 52-week highs of $15.41 and $20.24, respectively.