TEGNA Inc. (NYSE:TGNA) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

TEGNA Inc. (NYSE:TGNA) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the six brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $19.75.

Several brokerages recently weighed in on TGNA. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of TEGNA from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of TEGNA in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of TEGNA from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 12th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On TEGNA

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TGNA. Magnetar Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of TEGNA by 6,587.9% in the third quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC now owns 4,140,181 shares of the company’s stock worth $84,170,000 after buying an additional 4,078,275 shares during the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP lifted its position in TEGNA by 5,517.6% during the 2nd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 3,242,220 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,340,000 after acquiring an additional 3,184,505 shares during the last quarter. Pentwater Capital Management LP bought a new stake in TEGNA during the third quarter valued at about $47,294,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its position in shares of TEGNA by 980.1% in the third quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 2,090,826 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,506,000 after purchasing an additional 1,897,245 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Water Island Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of TEGNA in the third quarter worth about $24,874,000. 92.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

TEGNA Trading Up 0.8%

NYSE TGNA opened at $18.96 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. TEGNA has a 1-year low of $14.87 and a 1-year high of $21.35. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $19.24 and its 200-day simple moving average is $19.57. The company has a market capitalization of $3.05 billion, a PE ratio of 8.93 and a beta of 0.15.

TEGNA (NYSE:TGNA) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 10th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.35 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $650.79 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $658.28 million. TEGNA had a return on equity of 12.50% and a net margin of 11.97%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 19.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.94 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that TEGNA will post 3.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

TEGNA Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 5th were issued a dividend of $0.125 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 5th. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. TEGNA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.58%.

About TEGNA

TEGNA Inc is a leading U.S. broadcast and digital media company that was formed as a spin-off from Gannett Co, Inc in June 2015. The company’s primary operations include the ownership and operation of local television stations, digital publishing platforms and marketing solutions designed to serve both national advertisers and local businesses. Through its portfolio of media assets, TEGNA delivers news, information and entertainment across multiple platforms, including over-the-air broadcasts, cable and satellite distribution, streaming services and proprietary websites and mobile apps.

TEGNA owns and operates approximately 60 television stations in 51 markets, reaching nearly 40 percent of U.S.