Meritage Portfolio Management Purchases 1,967 Shares of TEGNA Inc. (NYSE:TGNA)

Meritage Portfolio Management lifted its stake in shares of TEGNA Inc. (NYSE:TGNA) by 8.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 25,270 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,967 shares during the quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management’s holdings in TEGNA were worth $462,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of TGNA. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of TEGNA during the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of TEGNA by 59.0% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,040 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 757 shares during the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of TEGNA during the 4th quarter worth about $57,000. Quarry LP lifted its stake in shares of TEGNA by 455.2% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 4,025 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,000 after buying an additional 3,300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE lifted its stake in shares of TEGNA by 20.4% during the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 4,503 shares of the company’s stock worth $71,000 after buying an additional 764 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.19% of the company’s stock.

TEGNA Price Performance

NYSE:TGNA opened at $18.12 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 2.60 and a current ratio of 2.60. TEGNA Inc. has a 52 week low of $12.35 and a 52 week high of $19.62. The firm has a market cap of $2.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.40 and a beta of 0.52. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $18.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $16.60.

TEGNA (NYSE:TGNA) last released its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $806.83 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $795.72 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.39 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that TEGNA Inc. will post 3.02 earnings per share for the current year.

TEGNA Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a $0.125 dividend. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. TEGNA’s dividend payout ratio is currently 17.67%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on TGNA. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $22.00 target price on shares of TEGNA in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of TEGNA from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $21.00 to $23.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Benchmark raised their price target on shares of TEGNA from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. StockNews.com raised shares of TEGNA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of TEGNA from $16.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $21.75.

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.