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

Shares of TEGNA Inc. (NYSE:TGNA) have earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the six analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $19.75.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On TEGNA

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. FIL Ltd lifted its holdings in TEGNA by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 6,442,271 shares of the company’s stock worth $125,044,000 after purchasing an additional 287,271 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in 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 buying an additional 17,255 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in TEGNA by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,064,389 shares of the company’s stock valued at $98,311,000 after buying an additional 24,743 shares in the last quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC raised its position in shares of TEGNA by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC now owns 4,355,886 shares of the company’s stock valued at $84,548,000 after buying an additional 215,705 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wasatch Advisors LP raised its position in shares of TEGNA by 5,517.6% during 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.19% of the company’s stock.

TEGNA Stock Down 1.5%

TGNA stock opened at $20.66 on Monday. TEGNA has a twelve month low of $14.87 and a twelve month high of $21.35. The company has a quick ratio of 2.22, a current ratio of 2.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market cap of $3.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.30 and a beta of 0.12. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $19.79 and its 200-day moving average price is $20.03.

TEGNA (NYSE:TGNA) last released its earnings results on Monday, March 2nd. The company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.05. TEGNA had a net margin of 8.11% and a return on equity of 8.60%. The company had revenue of $706.11 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $701.29 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.21 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 18.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that TEGNA 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 Wednesday, April 1st. Shareholders 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 yield of 2.4%. TEGNA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.04%.

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.