TEGNA (NYSE:TGNA) Shares Gap Up – Time to Buy?

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.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on TEGNA from $16.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of TEGNA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Benchmark boosted their target price on shares of TEGNA from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded 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 report on Thursday.

TEGNA Price Performance

The business has a 50-day moving average price of $17.77 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $15.61. The company has a quick ratio of 2.60, a current ratio of 2.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. The company has a market capitalization of $2.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.50 and a beta of 0.52.

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

TEGNA Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a $0.125 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.72%. TEGNA’s payout ratio is 17.67%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Lynn B. Trelstad sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.40, for a total value of $410,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 154,617 shares in the company, valued at $2,535,718.80. This represents a 13.92 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of TEGNA by 26.2% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 891,488 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,068,000 after buying an additional 184,845 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in TEGNA during the third quarter worth about $528,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of TEGNA by 7.4% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 17,994 shares of the company’s stock worth $284,000 after purchasing an additional 1,239 shares in the last quarter. Sculati Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of TEGNA by 11.6% in the third quarter. Sculati Wealth Management LLC now owns 51,435 shares of the company’s stock valued at $768,000 after purchasing an additional 5,330 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of TEGNA by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,905,588 shares of the company’s stock valued at $77,422,000 after buying an additional 238,696 shares in the last quarter. 92.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.