GANNETT CO., INC. $18

GANNETT CO., INC. $18 (New York symbol GCI; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector: Shares outstanding: 116.5 million; Market cap: $2.1 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.7; Dividend yield: 3.6%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.gannett.com) publishes daily newspapers in 107 U.S. markets, including its flagship newspaper, USAToday. It also has 19 papers in the U.K., and over 200 magazines and other publications. The company has offered to buy Tribune Publishing Co. (New York symbol TPUB). This firm owns 11 daily papers, including the Chicago Tribune and the Los Angeles Times, as well as 160 weekly papers and 120 websites. Including Tribune’s debt, the offer is worth $815 million. Eliminating overlapping operations would let Gannett cut $50 million from its annual costs; it earned $209.1 million, or $1.79 a share, in 2015. Tribune has not yet accepted the offer. However, its shares are trading below the $12.25-a-share bid. That indicates investors do not expect Gannett to raise its price. This would be the company’s second major acquisition this year; it recently paid $280 million for Journal Media Group, which publishes 15 dailies and 18 weeklies in nine states. Expanding by acquisition adds risk. However, the company’s bigger size should help it attract more print and online advertisers. Gannett is a buy.