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

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TGNA has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised TEGNA from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $21.00 to $23.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. StockNews.com lowered TEGNA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and set a $22.00 price target on shares of TEGNA in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $21.75.

TEGNA Stock Performance

TGNA traded up $0.70 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $18.87. 1,690,782 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,844,429. TEGNA has a 52 week low of $12.35 and a 52 week 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. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $17.95 and a 200 day moving average of $17.28. The stock has a market cap of $3.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.67 and a beta of 0.45.

TEGNA Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $0.125 dividend. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.65%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. TEGNA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 14.12%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On TEGNA

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TGNA. CIBC Asset Management Inc acquired a new stake in TEGNA in the third quarter worth $260,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its position in TEGNA by 217.0% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 129,912 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,050,000 after buying an additional 88,932 shares during the period. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC increased its position in TEGNA by 0.7% in the third quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 353,586 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,580,000 after buying an additional 2,599 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its position in TEGNA by 194.9% in the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,262 shares of the company’s stock worth $162,000 after buying an additional 6,782 shares during the period. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC increased its position in TEGNA by 179.6% in the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 72,661 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,147,000 after buying an additional 46,678 shares during the period. 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.