Townsquare Media (NYSE:TSQ) Upgraded by StockNews.com to Buy Rating

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Townsquare Media (NYSE:TSQ) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Monday.

Separately, Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $17.00 price target on shares of Townsquare Media in a research note on Thursday, November 7th.

Townsquare Media Stock Performance

NYSE:TSQ opened at $10.08 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 271.80, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 1.36. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $10.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $10.73. Townsquare Media has a 1-year low of $9.32 and a 1-year high of $13.57.

Townsquare Media Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, February 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, January 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.1975 per share. This represents a $0.79 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, January 21st. Townsquare Media’s dividend payout ratio is currently -29.15%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Townsquare Media

In other news, COO Erik Hellum sold 18,166 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.05, for a total value of $182,568.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 562,680 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,654,934. This represents a 3.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Stephen A. Kaplan bought 50,000 shares of Townsquare Media stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 20th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $10.41 per share, for a total transaction of $520,500.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 137,808 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,434,581.28. This represents a 56.94 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 38,153 shares of company stock worth $386,614 in the last quarter. 30.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Townsquare Media

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of TSQ. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in Townsquare Media by 28.9% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 6,698 shares of the company’s stock worth $68,000 after acquiring an additional 1,503 shares in the last quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Townsquare Media during the third quarter worth $39,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake in shares of Townsquare Media by 3.9% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 482,352 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,287,000 after purchasing an additional 17,900 shares during the period. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Townsquare Media during the 2nd quarter valued at $57,000. Finally, Boyar Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Townsquare Media by 8.7% during the 2nd quarter. Boyar Asset Management Inc. now owns 39,172 shares of the company’s stock worth $429,000 after buying an additional 3,150 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.69% of the company’s stock.

About Townsquare Media

Townsquare Media, Inc operates as a digital media and marketing solutions company in small and medium-sized businesses. It operates through three segments: Subscription Digital Marketing Solutions, Digital Advertising, and Broadcast Advertising. The Subscription Digital Marketing Solutions segment offers website design, creation, and development, as well as hosting services; and search engine optimization, online directory optimization, e-commerce solutions, online reputation monitoring, social media management, appointment scheduling, payment and invoice, customer management, and email and SMS marketing services.