Arizona State Retirement System Decreases Position in TEGNA Inc. (NYSE:TGNA)

Arizona State Retirement System cut its position in TEGNA Inc. (NYSE:TGNA) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 53,518 shares of the company’s stock after selling 961 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in TEGNA were worth $819,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. raised its holdings in TEGNA by 0.6% in the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 27,750,915 shares of the company’s stock worth $450,675,000 after buying an additional 166,869 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of TEGNA by 2.1% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,582,211 shares of the company’s stock valued at $358,163,000 after purchasing an additional 499,171 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its holdings in shares of TEGNA by 4.4% during the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 10,574,902 shares of the company’s stock valued at $154,046,000 after purchasing an additional 445,464 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of TEGNA by 1.0% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,982,897 shares of the company’s stock valued at $163,010,000 after purchasing an additional 94,345 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of TEGNA by 9.7% during the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,814,662 shares of the company’s stock valued at $81,446,000 after purchasing an additional 424,261 shares during the last quarter. 92.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

TEGNA Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE TGNA opened at $13.26 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $14.30 and a 200 day moving average of $14.85. The company has a current ratio of 2.48, a quick ratio of 2.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.87 and a beta of 0.50. TEGNA Inc. has a 12-month low of $13.18 and a 12-month high of $17.37.

TEGNA (NYSE:TGNA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.47 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $725.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $750.78 million. TEGNA had a net margin of 16.38% and a return on equity of 12.41%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 20.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.98 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that TEGNA Inc. will post 3.05 earnings per share for the current year.

TEGNA Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were given a $0.114 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.44%. TEGNA’s payout ratio is currently 20.35%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other TEGNA news, CEO David T. Lougee sold 43,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.70, for a total value of $643,125.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 725,651 shares in the company, valued at $10,667,069.70. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other TEGNA news, CEO David T. Lougee sold 150,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.21, for a total value of $2,281,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 636,262 shares in the company, valued at $9,677,545.02. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO David T. Lougee sold 43,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.70, for a total transaction of $643,125.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 725,651 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,667,069.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Benchmark decreased their price objective on shares of TEGNA from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 1st. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of TEGNA from $17.00 to $15.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of TEGNA from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 1st.

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.