TEGNA (NYSE:TGNA) Rating Lowered to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of TEGNA (NYSE:TGNA) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Saturday.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on TGNA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of TEGNA from $16.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Benchmark increased their target price on TEGNA from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th.

TEGNA Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of TGNA stock opened at $18.91 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.68 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a current ratio of 2.60, a quick ratio of 2.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. The business’s 50 day moving average is $16.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $15.12. TEGNA has a twelve month low of $12.35 and a twelve month high of $19.62.

TEGNA (NYSE:TGNA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $806.83 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $795.72 million. TEGNA had a net margin of 16.75% and a return on equity of 14.49%. TEGNA’s quarterly revenue was up 13.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.39 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that TEGNA will post 3.02 EPS for the current year.

TEGNA Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a $0.125 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.64%. TEGNA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Lynn B. Trelstad sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.40, for a total value of $410,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 154,617 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,535,718.80. This trade represents a 13.92 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.88% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of TEGNA

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of TGNA. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of TEGNA by 5.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,798,623 shares of the company’s stock worth $400,371,000 after buying an additional 1,471,691 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in TEGNA by 2,898.4% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 10,806,130 shares of the company’s stock worth $170,521,000 after acquiring an additional 10,445,739 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of TEGNA by 1.4% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 10,309,749 shares of the company’s stock valued at $143,714,000 after purchasing an additional 141,638 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of TEGNA by 3.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,194,619 shares of the company’s stock valued at $129,991,000 after purchasing an additional 276,699 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management increased its stake in shares of TEGNA by 29.5% during the 2nd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 8,024,562 shares of the company’s stock worth $111,862,000 after purchasing an additional 1,827,471 shares in the last quarter. 92.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.