TEGNA (NYSE:TGNA) Shares Gap Up – What’s Next?

Shares of TEGNA Inc. (NYSE:TGNA) gapped up before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $17.50, but opened at $18.59. TEGNA shares last traded at $18.26, with a volume of 356,410 shares traded.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on TGNA. Benchmark upped their target price on TEGNA from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. StockNews.com upgraded TEGNA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of TEGNA from $16.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of TEGNA from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $21.00 to $23.00 in a research report on Thursday.

TEGNA Trading Up 1.5 %

The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $17.77 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $15.61. The stock has a market cap of $2.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.50 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a quick ratio of 2.60, a current ratio of 2.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07.

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

TEGNA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a $0.125 dividend. 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 2.72%. TEGNA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Lynn B. Trelstad sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.88% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On TEGNA

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in TEGNA in the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Headlands Technologies LLC lifted its position in shares of TEGNA by 48.2% in the 2nd quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 4,520 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 1,470 shares during the period. Quarry LP increased its position in shares of TEGNA by 455.2% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 4,025 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,000 after buying an additional 3,300 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE raised its stake in TEGNA by 20.4% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 4,503 shares of the company’s stock worth $71,000 after buying an additional 764 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in TEGNA in the second quarter valued at $116,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.19% of the company’s stock.

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.