TEGNA Inc. (NYSE:TGNA) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.13

TEGNA Inc. (NYSE:TGNA) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, May 9th, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be given a dividend of 0.125 per share on Monday, July 1st. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.33%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. This is an increase from TEGNA’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11.

TEGNA has increased its dividend by an average of 14.2% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 1 years. TEGNA has a payout ratio of 20.7% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect TEGNA to earn $2.00 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.46 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 23.0%.

TEGNA Stock Up 2.2 %

TGNA traded up $0.33 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $15.01. 1,328,290 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,124,410. The stock has a market cap of $2.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.53 and a beta of 0.50. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $14.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $14.83. The company has a quick ratio of 2.48, a current ratio of 2.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. TEGNA has a 1-year low of $13.18 and a 1-year high of $17.37.

TEGNA (NYSE:TGNA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 8th. The company reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.02. TEGNA had a return on equity of 12.41% and a net margin of 16.38%. The firm had revenue of $714.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $718.86 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.47 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that TEGNA will post 3.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO David T. Lougee sold 43,750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.70, for a total transaction of $643,125.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 725,651 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,667,069.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TGNA has been the subject of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of TEGNA from $17.00 to $15.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Benchmark decreased their target price on TEGNA from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of TEGNA from $17.00 to $15.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 9th.

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.