TEGNA Inc. (NYSE:TGNA) Short Interest Up 16.1% in February

TEGNA Inc. (NYSE:TGNA) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 6,430,000 shares, a growth of 16.1% from the February 13th total of 5,540,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,420,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.5 days. Approximately 4.1% of the shares of the company are sold short.

TEGNA Price Performance

NYSE:TGNA traded up $0.70 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $18.87. 1,690,782 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,844,429. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $17.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $17.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.02 billion, a PE ratio of 6.67 and a beta of 0.45. TEGNA has a 1-year low of $12.35 and a 1-year high of $19.62. The company has a current ratio of 2.60, a quick ratio of 2.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07.

TEGNA Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.125 per share. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.65%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. TEGNA’s payout ratio is currently 14.12%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on TGNA. StockNews.com lowered TEGNA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and set a $22.00 price target on shares of TEGNA in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised TEGNA from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $21.00 to $23.00 in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $21.75.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Jones Financial Companies Lllp acquired a new position in TEGNA during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new position in TEGNA during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its position in shares of TEGNA by 80.2% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,683 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 749 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of TEGNA by 95.6% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,702 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 832 shares during the period. Finally, Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in shares of TEGNA in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. 92.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.