Sessa Capital IM L.P. Sells 600,000 Shares of TEGNA Inc. (NYSE:TGNA)

Sessa Capital IM L.P. lessened its position in shares of TEGNA Inc. (NYSE:TGNA - Free Report) by 33.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,184,471 shares of the company's stock after selling 600,000 shares during the period. TEGNA accounts for 0.7% of Sessa Capital IM L.P.'s holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Sessa Capital IM L.P. owned about 0.72% of TEGNA worth $18,691,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of TEGNA during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Headlands Technologies LLC boosted its stake in TEGNA by 48.2% during the second quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 4,520 shares of the company's stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 1,470 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its holdings in TEGNA by 146.3% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,614 shares of the company's stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 2,741 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in TEGNA by 247.8% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,702 shares of the company's stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 3,350 shares in the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE increased its stake in TEGNA by 20.4% in the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 4,503 shares of the company's stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 764 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.19% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other TEGNA news, COO Lynn B. Trelstad sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.88, for a total transaction of $347,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 179,617 shares in the company, valued at $2,493,083.96. This represents a 12.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.88% of the company's stock.

TEGNA Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of TGNA traded up $0.26 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $18.78. 1,339,907 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,229,273. TEGNA Inc. has a 52 week low of $12.35 and a 52 week high of $19.62. The company has a current ratio of 2.60, a quick ratio of 2.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $16.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $15.06. The company has a market cap of $3.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.63 and a beta of 0.49.

TEGNA (NYSE:TGNA - Get Free Report) last released its 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 company had revenue of $806.83 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $795.72 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.39 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that TEGNA Inc. will post 3.02 EPS for the current year.

TEGNA Dividend Announcement

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 issued a dividend of $0.125 per share. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.66%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. TEGNA's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.67%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on TGNA shares. StockNews.com raised TEGNA from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of TEGNA from $16.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Benchmark upped their target price on shares of TEGNA from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report 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.