Parent & spinoff have takeover appeal

Article Excerpt

On May 31, 2017, Tegna set up its Cars.com subsidiary as a separate firm. Investors received one share in Cars. com for every three Tegna shares they held. They’ll only pay capital gains taxes when they sell those new shares. The breakup lets each company focus on its main business, which increases its takeover potential. That’s not the sole reason to buy, but it does enhance their appeal. TEGNA INC. $13 (New York symbol TGNA; Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 215.1 million; Market cap: $2.8 billion; Dividend yield: 2.2%; Takeover Target Rating: Medium; www.tegna.com) owns 46 TV stations. It also offers online services, including Premion (advertising) and G/O Digital (web design). The stock is down slightly since the Cars.com spinoff (see below). That’s mainly due to concerns advertisers will continue to shift their spending away from TV to websites. However, Tegna expects the Winter Olympics and the U.S. midterm elections will spur its revenue in 2018. As well, it recently sold a big part…