Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Decreases Stock Holdings in TEGNA Inc. (NYSE:TGNA)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lowered its position in shares of TEGNA Inc. (NYSE:TGNA - Free Report) by 20.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 121,957 shares of the company's stock after selling 31,126 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned 0.08% of TEGNA worth $2,231,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in TGNA. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in 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 period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in TEGNA by 26.2% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 891,488 shares of the company's stock worth $14,068,000 after acquiring an additional 184,845 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in TEGNA in the 3rd quarter worth about $528,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in TEGNA by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 17,994 shares of the company's stock valued at $284,000 after purchasing an additional 1,239 shares during the period. Finally, Sculati Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of TEGNA by 11.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sculati Wealth Management LLC now owns 51,435 shares of the company's stock worth $768,000 after purchasing an additional 5,330 shares in the last quarter. 92.19% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other TEGNA news, COO Lynn B. Trelstad sold 25,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.40, for a total value of $410,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 154,617 shares in the company, valued at $2,535,718.80. This represents a 13.92 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.88% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on TGNA. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of TEGNA from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $21.00 to $23.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. StockNews.com upgraded TEGNA from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Benchmark raised their price target on TEGNA from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective 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.

TEGNA Trading Up 2.2 %

TGNA traded up $0.39 during trading on Thursday, hitting $18.18. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,043,336 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,142,545. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.42 and a beta of 0.52. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $18.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $16.37. The company has a quick ratio of 2.60, a current ratio of 2.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. TEGNA Inc. has a twelve month low of $12.35 and a twelve month high of $19.62.

TEGNA (NYSE:TGNA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.94 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $795.72 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.39 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 13.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that TEGNA Inc. will post 3.02 EPS for the current year.

TEGNA Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a $0.125 dividend. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.75%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. TEGNA's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.67%.

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.