The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Lowers Stake in TEGNA Inc. (NYSE:TGNA)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company cut its holdings in TEGNA Inc. (NYSE:TGNA) by 54.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 93,324 shares of the company’s stock after selling 109,892 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned about 0.06% of TEGNA worth $1,473,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Qsemble Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of TEGNA by 235.0% during the third quarter. Qsemble Capital Management LP now owns 63,776 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,006,000 after purchasing an additional 44,737 shares during the period. Hancock Whitney Corp raised its position in TEGNA by 10.2% during the 3rd quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 33,168 shares of the company’s stock worth $523,000 after buying an additional 3,079 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of TEGNA by 82.3% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 48,504 shares of the company’s stock worth $765,000 after acquiring an additional 21,900 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of TEGNA by 3.1% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,779,273 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,077,000 after acquiring an additional 53,583 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of TEGNA by 2,898.4% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 10,806,130 shares of the company’s stock worth $170,521,000 after acquiring an additional 10,445,739 shares during the period. 92.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

TEGNA Stock Performance

TGNA opened at $18.83 on Wednesday. TEGNA Inc. has a 1-year low of $12.35 and a 1-year high of $19.62. The stock has a market cap of $3.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.65 and a beta of 0.52. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $17.32 and its 200 day simple moving average is $15.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 2.60 and a quick ratio of 2.60.

TEGNA (NYSE:TGNA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.11. TEGNA had a net margin of 16.75% and a return on equity of 14.49%. The business had revenue of $806.83 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $795.72 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.39 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that TEGNA Inc. will post 3.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

TEGNA Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a $0.125 dividend. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. TEGNA’s payout ratio is 17.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling at TEGNA

In other TEGNA news, COO Lynn B. Trelstad sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.40, for a total transaction of $410,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 154,617 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,535,718.80. This represents a 13.92 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.88% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on TGNA shares. Benchmark lifted their price objective on TEGNA from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. StockNews.com cut TEGNA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of TEGNA from $16.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th.

TEGNA Company Profile

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.