Whitebox Advisors LLC Invests $402,000 in TEGNA Inc. (NYSE:TGNA)

Whitebox Advisors LLC bought a new stake in TEGNA Inc. (NYSE:TGNA) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 25,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $402,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of TEGNA by 2,898.4% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 10,806,130 shares of the company’s stock worth $170,521,000 after acquiring an additional 10,445,739 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management boosted its position in TEGNA by 29.5% during the 2nd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 8,024,562 shares of the company’s stock worth $111,862,000 after purchasing an additional 1,827,471 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in TEGNA by 395.9% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 930,722 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,974,000 after purchasing an additional 743,052 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in TEGNA by 757.4% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 662,417 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,453,000 after purchasing an additional 585,156 shares during the period. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 523,120 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.19% of the company’s stock.

TEGNA Price Performance

Shares of TGNA stock opened at $18.71 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $17.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $15.31. The firm has a market cap of $3.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.61 and a beta of 0.52. TEGNA Inc. has a 1-year low of $12.35 and a 1-year high of $19.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 2.60 and a quick ratio of 2.60.

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

TEGNA Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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 2.67%. TEGNA’s payout ratio is 17.67%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on TGNA shares. Benchmark raised their price target on shares of TEGNA from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on TEGNA from $16.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, StockNews.com cut TEGNA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 23rd.

Insider Activity at TEGNA

In related news, COO Lynn B. Trelstad sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.40, for a total value of $410,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 154,617 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,535,718.80. This trade represents a 13.92 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

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.