Alpine Associates Management Inc. Invests $15.62 Million in TEGNA Inc. $TGNA

Alpine Associates Management Inc. acquired a new position in TEGNA Inc. (NYSE:TGNA) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 768,370 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,621,000. TEGNA comprises approximately 0.9% of Alpine Associates Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest position. Alpine Associates Management Inc. owned 0.48% of TEGNA as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wasatch Advisors LP lifted its holdings in TEGNA by 5,517.6% during the 2nd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 3,242,220 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,340,000 after purchasing an additional 3,184,505 shares during the last quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC acquired a new position in TEGNA in the third quarter valued at $23,298,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of TEGNA in the 2nd quarter valued at $13,426,000. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd boosted its position in shares of TEGNA by 1,790.0% during the 2nd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 789,521 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,232,000 after purchasing an additional 747,747 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in shares of TEGNA by 247.1% in the second quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 940,055 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,755,000 after buying an additional 669,255 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TGNA has been the subject of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of TEGNA in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of TEGNA from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company downgraded TEGNA from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $19.75.

TEGNA Stock Performance

TGNA stock opened at $20.78 on Thursday. TEGNA Inc. has a 1-year low of $14.87 and a 1-year high of $21.35. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $19.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $19.69. The company has a market capitalization of $3.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.80 and a beta of 0.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 2.22 and a quick ratio of 2.22.

TEGNA (NYSE:TGNA) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 10th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.35 by ($0.02). TEGNA had a return on equity of 12.50% and a net margin of 11.97%.The business had revenue of $650.79 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $658.28 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.94 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 19.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that TEGNA Inc. will post 3.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

TEGNA Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, December 5th were paid a dividend of $0.125 per share. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 5th. TEGNA’s dividend payout ratio is 23.58%.

TEGNA Company Profile

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.