Verition Fund Management LLC Sells 15,029 Shares of TEGNA Inc. (NYSE:TGNA)

Verition Fund Management LLC lessened its holdings in TEGNA Inc. (NYSE:TGNA) by 52.4% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 13,679 shares of the company’s stock after selling 15,029 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC’s holdings in TEGNA were worth $216,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 10,445,739 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management grew its stake in shares of TEGNA by 29.5% during the second quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 8,024,562 shares of the company’s stock worth $111,862,000 after buying an additional 1,827,471 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in shares of TEGNA by 395.9% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 930,722 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,974,000 after buying an additional 743,052 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in shares of TEGNA by 757.4% during the third 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 last quarter. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its holdings in shares of TEGNA by 132.9% during the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 916,760 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,780,000 after buying an additional 523,120 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.19% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Lynn B. Trelstad sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.40, for a total transaction of $410,000.00. Following 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

TEGNA Stock Performance

NYSE TGNA opened at $18.50 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.54 and a beta of 0.52. TEGNA Inc. has a twelve month low of $12.35 and a twelve month high of $19.62. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $17.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $15.51. 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 results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $806.83 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $795.72 million. TEGNA had a return on equity of 14.49% and a net margin of 16.75%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.39 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that TEGNA Inc. will post 3.02 EPS for the current year.

TEGNA Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.70%. TEGNA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.67%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on TGNA. StockNews.com raised TEGNA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Benchmark boosted their price target on TEGNA from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of TEGNA from $16.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th.

About TEGNA

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.