Barclays PLC Sells 420,670 Shares of TEGNA Inc. (NYSE:TGNA)

Barclays PLC cut its holdings in TEGNA Inc. (NYSE:TGNA) by 57.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 306,609 shares of the company’s stock after selling 420,670 shares during the period. Barclays PLC’s holdings in TEGNA were worth $4,838,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in TEGNA by 26.2% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 891,488 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,068,000 after purchasing an additional 184,845 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of TEGNA by 1.4% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 10,309,749 shares of the company’s stock valued at $143,714,000 after buying an additional 141,638 shares during the period. Capital Management Corp VA lifted its stake in shares of TEGNA by 30.3% in the third quarter. Capital Management Corp VA now owns 725,805 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,453,000 after buying an additional 168,667 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in TEGNA during the third quarter worth about $626,000. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC increased its stake in TEGNA by 132.9% during the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 916,760 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,780,000 after acquiring an additional 523,120 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.19% of the company’s stock.

TEGNA Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE:TGNA opened at $18.40 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.96 billion, a PE ratio of 6.50 and a beta of 0.52. 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’s fifty day moving average is $17.77 and its 200-day moving average is $15.62. TEGNA Inc. has a 52 week low of $12.35 and a 52 week high of $19.62.

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 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 firm had revenue of $806.83 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $795.72 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.39 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that TEGNA Inc. will post 3.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

TEGNA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a $0.125 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 that occurred 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 154,617 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,535,718.80. This represents a 13.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.