Sale lets Tegna reward investors

Article Excerpt

TEGNA INC. $14 is still a hold. The company (New York symbol TGNA, Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector: Shares outstanding: 176.1 million; Market cap: $2.5 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.9; Dividend yield: 3.6%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.tegna.com) owns 64 TV stations and two radio stations in 51 U.S. markets. In February 2024, Tegna sold its Broadcast Music Inc. business, which licenses music catalogues, for $152.9 million. The company is now using that cash to raise its quarterly dividend by 9.9%. Starting with the July 2024 payment, investors will receive $0.125 a share instead of $0.11375. The new annual rate of $0.50 yields 3.6%. Tegna also plans to buy back up to $650.0 million of its shares by the end of 2025. The company should benefit from additional advertising spending linked to the U.S. presidential election and summer Olympics. However, it continues to face strong competition from streaming services. Tegna is a hold. hold. …