Meritage Portfolio Management Buys Shares of 22,598 TEGNA Inc. (NYSE:TGNA)

Meritage Portfolio Management purchased a new position in TEGNA Inc. (NYSE:TGNA) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 22,598 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $346,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in TGNA. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in TEGNA by 38.7% during the fourth quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 19,901 shares of the company’s stock worth $304,000 after acquiring an additional 5,553 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its stake in shares of TEGNA by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 108,212 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,656,000 after purchasing an additional 1,074 shares during the last quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. lifted its stake in TEGNA by 89.3% during the fourth quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. now owns 22,208 shares of the company’s stock valued at $340,000 after purchasing an additional 10,477 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in TEGNA by 437.5% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 9,686 shares of the company’s stock worth $148,000 after buying an additional 7,884 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in TEGNA in the fourth quarter worth approximately $846,000. 92.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO David T. Lougee sold 43,750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.70, for a total transaction of $643,125.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 725,651 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,667,069.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other TEGNA news, CEO David T. Lougee sold 150,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.21, for a total transaction of $2,281,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 636,262 shares in the company, valued at $9,677,545.02. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO David T. Lougee sold 43,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.70, for a total transaction of $643,125.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 725,651 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,667,069.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on TGNA shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on TEGNA from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 1st. Benchmark reduced their price objective on shares of TEGNA from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of TEGNA from $17.00 to $15.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 9th.

TEGNA Stock Performance

Shares of TGNA stock opened at $13.54 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $14.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $14.83. The company has a market capitalization of $2.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.99 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a current ratio of 2.48, a quick ratio of 2.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. TEGNA Inc. has a 1-year low of $13.18 and a 1-year high of $17.37.

TEGNA (NYSE:TGNA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $725.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $750.78 million. TEGNA had a net margin of 16.38% and a return on equity of 12.41%. TEGNA’s revenue for the quarter was down 20.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.98 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that TEGNA Inc. will post 3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

TEGNA Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a dividend of $0.114 per share. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. TEGNA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.35%.

About TEGNA

TEGNA Inc, a media company, provides broadcast advertising and marketing products and services for businesses. The company operates 47 television stations in 39 markets of the United States that produce local programming, such as news, sports, and entertainment. It offers local and national non-political advertising; political advertising; production of programming from third parties; production of advertising materials; and digital marketing services, as well as advertising services on the stations' Websites, tablets, and mobile products.