TEGNA (NYSE:TGNA) Upgraded at Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of TEGNA (NYSE:TGNA) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a research note published on Thursday morning, Marketbeat reports. They currently have $23.00 target price on the stock, up from their previous target price of $21.00.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of TEGNA from $16.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. StockNews.com upgraded TEGNA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Benchmark lifted their price target on TEGNA from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th.

TEGNA Stock Up 1.5 %

NYSE TGNA opened at $18.40 on Thursday. 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 company has a market cap of $2.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.50 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a 50 day moving average of $17.77 and a 200-day moving average of $15.62. TEGNA has a 1-year low of $12.35 and a 1-year high of $19.62.

TEGNA (NYSE:TGNA) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $806.83 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $795.72 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.39 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that TEGNA will post 3.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

TEGNA Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a $0.125 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.72%. TEGNA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.67%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 shares were 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 owns 154,617 shares in the company, valued at $2,535,718.80. This trade represents a 13.92 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On TEGNA

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TGNA. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of TEGNA by 247.8% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,702 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 3,350 shares during the last quarter. Bailard Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of TEGNA in the second quarter valued at about $302,000. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY raised its position in shares of TEGNA by 1.8% during the second quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY now owns 42,031 shares of the company’s stock worth $586,000 after acquiring an additional 726 shares during the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in TEGNA in the second quarter valued at approximately $116,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC increased its position in TEGNA by 65.0% during the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 14,951 shares of the company’s stock valued at $208,000 after purchasing an additional 5,889 shares during the period. 92.19% of the stock is currently 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.