MML Investors Services LLC Invests $177,000 in TEGNA Inc. (NYSE:TGNA)

MML Investors Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of TEGNA Inc. (NYSE:TGNA) in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 11,244 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $177,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TGNA. Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in shares of TEGNA by 65.0% in the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 14,951 shares of the company’s stock worth $208,000 after purchasing an additional 5,889 shares in the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new stake in TEGNA in the 2nd quarter worth $372,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in TEGNA by 43.7% during the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,071,403 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,935,000 after acquiring an additional 325,881 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management lifted its position in shares of TEGNA by 29.5% in the second quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 8,024,562 shares of the company’s stock valued at $111,862,000 after acquiring an additional 1,827,471 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of TEGNA by 272.9% in the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 29,861 shares of the company’s stock worth $416,000 after acquiring an additional 21,853 shares during the period. 92.19% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on TGNA. StockNews.com raised TEGNA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of TEGNA from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $21.00 to $23.00 in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Benchmark raised their target price 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of TEGNA from $16.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th.

TEGNA Stock Up 0.4 %

NYSE TGNA opened at $18.55 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $17.90 and a 200-day moving average price of $15.71. TEGNA Inc. has a one year low of $12.35 and a one year high of $19.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 2.60 and a current ratio of 2.60. The company has a market capitalization of $2.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.55 and a beta of 0.52.

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

TEGNA Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.125 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.70%. TEGNA’s payout ratio is currently 17.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling at TEGNA

In other TEGNA news, COO Lynn B. Trelstad sold 25,000 shares of TEGNA stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The shares were 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. The trade was a 13.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

TEGNA 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.