TEGNA (NYSE:TGNA) Share Price Crosses Above 50 Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?

TEGNA Inc. (NYSE:TGNA)’s stock price passed above its 50-day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a 50-day moving average of $18.30 and traded as high as $18.30. TEGNA shares last traded at $18.25, with a volume of 1,887,151 shares traded.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on TGNA shares. StockNews.com raised shares of TEGNA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Benchmark raised their price target on TEGNA from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on TEGNA from $16.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded TEGNA from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $21.00 to $23.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 19th.

TEGNA Stock Down 1.1 %

The company has a market capitalization of $2.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.45 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a 50-day moving average of $18.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $16.08. 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 (NYSE:TGNA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $806.83 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $795.72 million. TEGNA had a net margin of 16.75% and a return on equity of 14.49%. TEGNA’s revenue was up 13.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.39 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that TEGNA Inc. will post 3.02 EPS 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.74%. TEGNA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.67%.

Insider Activity at TEGNA

In other news, COO Lynn B. Trelstad sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.40, for a total transaction of $410,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 154,617 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,535,718.80. The trade was a 13.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.88% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On TEGNA

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of TGNA. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of TEGNA by 43.7% in the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,071,403 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,935,000 after purchasing an additional 325,881 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC increased its stake in TEGNA by 272.9% in the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 29,861 shares of the company’s stock worth $416,000 after buying an additional 21,853 shares in the last quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp raised its holdings in TEGNA by 0.8% during the second quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 173,408 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,417,000 after acquiring an additional 1,341 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC increased its holdings in TEGNA by 48.2% in the 2nd quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 4,520 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,000 after acquiring an additional 1,470 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Qsemble Capital Management LP bought a new stake in TEGNA in the 2nd quarter valued at $265,000. Institutional investors own 92.19% 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.