Gamco Investors INC. ET AL Sells 136,576 Shares of TEGNA Inc. $TGNA

Gamco Investors INC. ET AL cut its stake in shares of TEGNA Inc. (NYSE:TGNA) by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,273,952 shares of the company’s stock after selling 136,576 shares during the quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL’s holdings in TEGNA were worth $46,229,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wasatch Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of TEGNA by 5,517.6% during the 2nd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 3,242,220 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,340,000 after acquiring an additional 3,184,505 shares in the last quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC acquired a new position in TEGNA in the 3rd quarter worth about $23,298,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in TEGNA in the 2nd quarter worth about $13,426,000. Alpine Associates Management Inc. bought a new position in TEGNA in the third quarter valued at about $15,621,000. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd raised its position in TEGNA by 1,790.0% in the second quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 789,521 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,232,000 after purchasing an additional 747,747 shares during the last quarter. 92.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TGNA has been the topic of several research reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of TEGNA in a report on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of TEGNA from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $19.75.

TEGNA Price Performance

Shares of NYSE TGNA opened at $20.66 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.35 billion, a PE ratio of 15.30 and a beta of 0.12. The company has a quick ratio of 2.22, a current ratio of 2.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. TEGNA Inc. has a twelve month low of $14.87 and a twelve month high of $21.35. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $19.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $20.03.

TEGNA (NYSE:TGNA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 2nd. The company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.05. TEGNA had a net margin of 8.11% and a return on equity of 8.60%. The business had revenue of $706.11 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $701.29 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.21 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 18.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that TEGNA Inc. will post 3.02 EPS for the current year.

TEGNA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $0.125 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. TEGNA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.04%.

TEGNA Company Profile

TEGNA Inc is a leading U.S. broadcast and digital media company that was formed as a spin-off from Gannett Co, Inc in June 2015. The company’s primary operations include the ownership and operation of local television stations, digital publishing platforms and marketing solutions designed to serve both national advertisers and local businesses. Through its portfolio of media assets, TEGNA delivers news, information and entertainment across multiple platforms, including over-the-air broadcasts, cable and satellite distribution, streaming services and proprietary websites and mobile apps.

TEGNA owns and operates approximately 60 television stations in 51 markets, reaching nearly 40 percent of U.S.