Verition Fund Management LLC Has $216,000 Position in TEGNA Inc. (NYSE:TGNA)

Verition Fund Management LLC lessened its position in TEGNA Inc. (NYSE:TGNA) by 52.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 13,679 shares of the company’s stock after selling 15,029 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC’s holdings in TEGNA were worth $216,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in TEGNA during the third quarter worth about $28,000. US Bancorp DE lifted its position in shares of TEGNA by 20.4% in the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 4,503 shares of the company’s stock valued at $71,000 after buying an additional 764 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC boosted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 1,470 shares during the period. CWM LLC increased its holdings in shares of TEGNA by 146.3% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,614 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,000 after acquiring an additional 2,741 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in TEGNA by 247.8% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,702 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,000 after acquiring an additional 3,350 shares during the period. 92.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

TEGNA Trading Down 0.9 %

TGNA stock opened at $18.50 on Monday. TEGNA Inc. has a 52 week low of $12.35 and a 52 week high of $19.62. The company has a market capitalization of $2.98 billion, a PE ratio of 6.54 and a beta of 0.52. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $17.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $15.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 2.60 and a current ratio of 2.60.

TEGNA (NYSE:TGNA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $806.83 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $795.72 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.39 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that TEGNA Inc. will post 3.02 earnings per share for the current year.

TEGNA Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders 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 yield of 2.70%. TEGNA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.67%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other TEGNA news, COO Lynn B. Trelstad sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.40, for a total value of $410,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 154,617 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,535,718.80. This trade represents a 13.92 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

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.