TEGNA (NYSE:TGNA) Upgraded at StockNews.com

TEGNA (NYSE:TGNA) was upgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday.

Several other research analysts have also recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on TEGNA from $16.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Benchmark increased their price objective on shares of TEGNA from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th.

TEGNA Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:TGNA traded down $0.47 on Friday, hitting $17.64. 1,814,059 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,250,921. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $16.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $14.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.23 and a beta of 0.49. 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 has a one year low of $12.35 and a one year high of $19.62.

TEGNA (NYSE:TGNA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.11. TEGNA had a return on equity of 14.49% and a net margin of 16.75%. The firm 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 company posted $0.39 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that TEGNA will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at TEGNA

In other TEGNA news, COO Lynn B. Trelstad sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.88, for a total value of $347,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 179,617 shares in the company, valued at $2,493,083.96. This represents a 12.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On TEGNA

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in TEGNA by 2,898.4% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 10,806,130 shares of the company’s stock valued at $170,521,000 after buying an additional 10,445,739 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management raised its holdings in TEGNA by 29.5% in the second quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 8,024,562 shares of the company’s stock worth $111,862,000 after purchasing an additional 1,827,471 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of TEGNA by 5.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,798,623 shares of the company’s stock worth $400,371,000 after purchasing an additional 1,471,691 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of TEGNA by 395.9% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 930,722 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,974,000 after buying an additional 743,052 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in TEGNA by 757.4% during the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 662,417 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,453,000 after buying an additional 585,156 shares during the period. 92.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.