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

StockNews.com cut shares of TEGNA (NYSE:TGNA) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Saturday morning.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on TEGNA from $16.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note 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 Stock Performance

NYSE:TGNA opened at $18.71 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $16.46 and its 200 day moving average is $15.09. TEGNA has a fifty-two week low of $12.35 and a fifty-two week high of $19.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.01 billion, a PE ratio of 6.61 and a beta of 0.49. 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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.11. TEGNA had a return on equity of 14.49% and a net margin of 16.75%. The company had revenue of $806.83 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $795.72 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.39 EPS. TEGNA’s quarterly revenue was up 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that TEGNA will post 3.02 earnings per share for the current year.

TEGNA Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a $0.125 dividend. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. TEGNA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.67%.

Insider Transactions at TEGNA

In other news, COO Lynn B. Trelstad sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $2,535,718.80. This trade represents a 13.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY raised its stake in shares of TEGNA by 1.8% in the second quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY now owns 42,031 shares of the company’s stock worth $586,000 after purchasing an additional 726 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE raised its position in TEGNA by 20.4% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 4,503 shares of the company’s stock valued at $71,000 after acquiring an additional 764 shares in the last quarter. Manchester Financial Inc. raised its position in TEGNA by 0.9% during the second quarter. Manchester Financial Inc. now owns 118,202 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,648,000 after acquiring an additional 1,047 shares in the last quarter. O Keefe Stevens Advisory Inc. increased its position in shares of TEGNA by 7.4% in the second quarter. O Keefe Stevens Advisory Inc. now owns 16,024 shares of the company’s stock valued at $223,000 after buying an additional 1,099 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Texas Permanent School Fund Corp increased its position in shares of TEGNA by 0.8% in the second quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 173,408 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,417,000 after buying an additional 1,341 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.