TEGNA Inc. Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.13 (NYSE:TGNA)

TEGNA Inc. (NYSE:TGNA) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, November 20th,Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a dividend of 0.125 per share on Thursday, January 2nd. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.76%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th.

TEGNA has raised its dividend payment by an average of 14.2% per year over the last three years. TEGNA has a dividend payout ratio of 25.9% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect TEGNA to earn $1.68 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.50 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 29.8%.

TEGNA Trading Up 1.3 %

NYSE TGNA traded up $0.23 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $18.11. The stock had a trading volume of 1,051,472 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,236,471. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.32 and a beta of 0.49. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $16.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $15.01. TEGNA has a one year low of $12.35 and a one year high of $19.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 2.60 and a current ratio of 2.60.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Lynn B. Trelstad sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.88, for a total value of $347,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 179,617 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,493,083.96. This trade represents a 12.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TGNA has been the subject of a number of research reports. StockNews.com raised shares of TEGNA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of TEGNA from $16.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Benchmark lifted their price target on shares of TEGNA from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th.

TEGNA Company Profile

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.