Brokerages Set TEGNA Inc. (NYSE:TGNA) Price Target at $19.75

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

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of TEGNA in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research upgraded TEGNA from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th.

TEGNA Price Performance

NYSE:TGNA opened at $20.95 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.39 billion, a PE ratio of 15.52 and a beta of 0.12. TEGNA has a 1-year low of $14.87 and a 1-year high of $21.35. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $19.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $20.02. The company has a current ratio of 2.28, a quick ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

TEGNA (NYSE:TGNA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 2nd. The company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.05. TEGNA had a net margin of 8.11% and a return on equity of 8.60%. The firm had revenue of $706.11 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $701.29 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.21 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 18.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that TEGNA will post 3.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

TEGNA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.125 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. TEGNA’s payout ratio is 23.58%.

Institutional Trading of TEGNA

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of TGNA. FIL Ltd raised its stake in TEGNA by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 6,442,271 shares of the company’s stock worth $125,044,000 after acquiring an additional 287,271 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of TEGNA by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,376,851 shares of the company’s stock valued at $124,564,000 after purchasing an additional 17,255 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in TEGNA by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,064,389 shares of the company’s stock worth $98,311,000 after purchasing an additional 24,743 shares in the last quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC lifted its stake in TEGNA by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC now owns 4,355,886 shares of the company’s stock valued at $84,548,000 after purchasing an additional 215,705 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wasatch Advisors LP boosted its position in TEGNA by 5,517.6% in the second quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 3,242,220 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,340,000 after buying an additional 3,184,505 shares in the last quarter. 92.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.