Principal Financial Group Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in TEGNA Inc. (NYSE:TGNA)

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in TEGNA Inc. (NYSE:TGNA) by 26.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 891,488 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 184,845 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.55% of TEGNA worth $14,068,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in TEGNA during the third quarter worth $28,000. Quarry LP raised its holdings in shares of TEGNA by 455.2% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 4,025 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,000 after acquiring an additional 3,300 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE boosted its position in shares of TEGNA by 20.4% during the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 4,503 shares of the company’s stock valued at $71,000 after acquiring an additional 764 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC grew its holdings in shares of TEGNA by 48.2% in the second quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 4,520 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 1,470 shares during the period. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in TEGNA during the third quarter worth about $133,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.19% of the company’s stock.

TEGNA Trading Down 0.9 %

TGNA opened at $18.38 on Friday. TEGNA Inc. has a 52 week low of $12.35 and a 52 week high of $19.62. The company has a quick ratio of 2.60, a current ratio of 2.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $17.97 and a 200-day simple moving average of $15.76. The firm has a market cap of $2.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.49 and a beta of 0.52.

TEGNA (NYSE:TGNA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $806.83 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $795.72 million. TEGNA had a return on equity of 14.49% and a net margin of 16.75%. TEGNA’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.39 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that TEGNA Inc. will post 3.02 earnings per share for the current year.

TEGNA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.125 per share. 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 (DPR) is presently 17.67%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TGNA has been the subject of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of TEGNA from $16.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Benchmark raised 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. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded TEGNA from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $21.00 to $23.00 in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of TEGNA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th.

Insider Buying and Selling at TEGNA

In related 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 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 approximately $2,535,718.80. This trade represents a 13.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.