New York State Common Retirement Fund Has $1.66 Million Stock Holdings in TEGNA Inc. (NYSE:TGNA)

New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its stake in shares of TEGNA Inc. (NYSE:TGNA) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 108,212 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,074 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in TEGNA were worth $1,656,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of TGNA. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in shares of TEGNA by 94.3% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,741 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 1,330 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in TEGNA by 925.4% during the third quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,630 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 3,276 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its holdings in TEGNA by 34.4% in the 3rd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 4,474 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,000 after acquiring an additional 1,145 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp acquired a new position in shares of TEGNA in the third quarter valued at $97,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in shares of TEGNA by 437.5% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 9,686 shares of the company’s stock valued at $148,000 after buying an additional 7,884 shares in the last quarter. 92.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, 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 $10,667,069.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TGNA has been the subject of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on TEGNA from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Benchmark reduced their target price on TEGNA from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on TEGNA from $17.00 to $15.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 9th.

TEGNA Stock Up 2.4 %

Shares of NYSE:TGNA opened at $15.03 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.48, a current ratio of 2.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The firm has a market cap of $2.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.65 and a beta of 0.50. TEGNA Inc. has a 12 month low of $13.18 and a 12 month high of $17.37. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $14.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $14.83.

TEGNA (NYSE:TGNA) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The company reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $714.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $718.86 million. TEGNA had a net margin of 16.38% and a return on equity of 12.41%. TEGNA’s quarterly revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.47 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that TEGNA Inc. will post 3.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

TEGNA Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be given a $0.125 dividend. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.33%. This is a positive change from TEGNA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. TEGNA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.91%.

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.