Franklin Resources Inc. Has $261,000 Stock Holdings in TEGNA Inc. (NYSE:TGNA)

Franklin Resources Inc. lessened its stake in shares of TEGNA Inc. (NYSE:TGNA) by 4.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,214 shares of the company’s stock after selling 670 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in TEGNA were worth $261,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in TEGNA by 43.7% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,071,403 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,935,000 after purchasing an additional 325,881 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management lifted its stake in TEGNA by 29.5% during the 2nd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 8,024,562 shares of the company’s stock valued at $111,862,000 after acquiring an additional 1,827,471 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of TEGNA by 272.9% in the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 29,861 shares of the company’s stock worth $416,000 after acquiring an additional 21,853 shares in the last quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp raised its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 1,341 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC lifted its position in shares of TEGNA by 48.2% during the 2nd quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 4,520 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 1,470 shares in the last quarter. 92.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

TEGNA Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of TEGNA stock opened at $18.29 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 2.60 and a current ratio of 2.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.46 and a beta of 0.52. TEGNA Inc. has a 52-week low of $12.35 and a 52-week high of $19.62. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $18.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $15.88.

TEGNA (NYSE:TGNA) last announced its quarterly 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. TEGNA had a net margin of 16.75% and a return on equity of 14.49%. The company had revenue of $806.83 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $795.72 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.39 EPS. TEGNA’s revenue was up 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that TEGNA Inc. will post 3.02 EPS for the current year.

TEGNA Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.125 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.73%. TEGNA’s payout ratio is 17.67%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Lynn B. Trelstad sold 25,000 shares of TEGNA stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.40, for a total transaction of $410,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 154,617 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,535,718.80. This trade represents a 13.92 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by 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.