TEGNA Inc. (NYSE:TGNA) Stock Position Decreased by HighTower Advisors LLC

HighTower Advisors LLC lowered its position in shares of TEGNA Inc. (NYSE:TGNA) by 18.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 29,028 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,711 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in TEGNA were worth $458,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Holocene Advisors LP acquired a new stake in shares of TEGNA in the third quarter worth about $3,096,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC lifted its position in TEGNA by 163.0% in the third quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC now owns 45,116 shares of the company’s stock worth $712,000 after purchasing an additional 27,961 shares during the period. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in TEGNA in the third quarter valued at about $429,000. Public Sector Pension Investment Board bought a new stake in shares of TEGNA in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $5,539,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in TEGNA by 9.8% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 39,038 shares of the company’s stock worth $616,000 after acquiring an additional 3,469 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at TEGNA

In other news, COO Lynn B. Trelstad sold 25,000 shares of TEGNA stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.40, for a total transaction of $410,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 154,617 shares in the company, valued at $2,535,718.80. The trade was 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 corporate insiders.

TEGNA Stock Performance

TGNA opened at $18.40 on Friday. 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 Inc. has a 52-week low of $12.35 and a 52-week high of $19.62. The firm has a market cap of $2.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.50 and a beta of 0.52. The business’s fifty day moving average is $17.77 and its 200-day moving average is $15.62.

TEGNA (NYSE:TGNA) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $806.83 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $795.72 million. TEGNA had a net margin of 16.75% and a return on equity of 14.49%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.39 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that TEGNA Inc. will post 3.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

TEGNA Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

TGNA has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Benchmark increased their price objective on shares of TEGNA from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of TEGNA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Wells Fargo & Company raised TEGNA from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $21.00 to $23.00 in a research note on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on TEGNA from $16.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th.

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.