TEGNA Inc. (NYSE:TGNA) Short Interest Up 16.1% in February

TEGNA Inc. (NYSE:TGNA) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 6,430,000 shares, a growth of 16.1% from the February 13th total of 5,540,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,420,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.5 days. Approximately 4.1% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On TEGNA

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. CIBC Asset Management Inc bought a new stake in TEGNA in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $260,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its stake in TEGNA by 217.0% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 129,912 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,050,000 after acquiring an additional 88,932 shares in the last quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC lifted its stake in TEGNA by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 353,586 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,580,000 after acquiring an additional 2,599 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in TEGNA by 194.9% in the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,262 shares of the company’s stock valued at $162,000 after acquiring an additional 6,782 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in TEGNA by 179.6% in the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 72,661 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,147,000 after acquiring an additional 46,678 shares in the last quarter. 92.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

TEGNA Price Performance

Shares of TGNA opened at $18.79 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 2.60 and a current ratio of 2.60. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $17.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $17.30. TEGNA has a 52-week low of $12.35 and a 52-week high of $19.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.00 billion, a PE ratio of 6.64 and a beta of 0.45.

TEGNA Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $0.125 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.66%. TEGNA’s dividend payout ratio is presently 14.12%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on TGNA. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded TEGNA from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $21.00 to $23.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $22.00 target price on shares of TEGNA in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered TEGNA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.75.

TEGNA Company 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.