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Topic: Value Stocks

Value Stocks: Digital unit spurs growth for Tegna Inc.

Tegna-Inc.

Digital ad revenue for Tegna Inc. – Gannett’s broadcasting and Internet business – jumped following its purchase of an auto website. The media company is now using the cash to pay down debt, buy back shares and purchase TV stations. Tegna is a buy.

TEGNA INC. (New York symbol TGNA; www.tegna.com) owns 46 TV stations, which supply 50% of its revenue and 70% of its earnings.

The remaining 50% of revenue and 30% of earnings come from its digital division, That unit operates several websites, including Cars.com (car sales and vehicle information), CareerBuilder (job search), Cofactor (advertising services) and G/O Digital (website design).


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In the third quarter of 2015, Tegna’s revenue rose 18.5%, to $807.1 million from $681.0 million a year earlier. Revenue fell 2.4% at the media unit, as 2014 benefited from election advertising. However, revenue from the digital business jumped 71.6%, thanks to the October 2014 purchase of the 73% of Cars.com it didn’t already own.

Earnings rose 24.1%, to $84.6 million from $68.2 million. Tegna spent $125.5 million on share buybacks in the quarter, so its per-share profits rose 27.6%, to $0.37 from $0.29.

Tegna recently sold its headquarters in Virginia for $270 million. The cash will help it pay for three recently purchased TV stations (in Portland, Louisville and Tucson).

The company also recently signed a new long-term signal distribution deal with the Dish satellite TV system, as well as new affiliation agreements with the CBS and NBC television networks.

Tegna’s long-term debt of $4.5 billion is a high 85% of its market cap. That’s mainly because the company didn’t want to burden the newspaper spinoff with debt as it builds up its news websites. However, additional ad revenue related to the 2016 Summer Olympics and U.S. presidential campaign should give Tegna more cash to pay down its debt.

The company will probably earn $2.23 a share in 2016, and the stock trades at just 10.8 times that forecast. The $0.56 dividend yields 2.3%.

Recommendation in Wall Street Stock Forecaster: BUY

For our view on the advantages investors can enjoy with spin-offs, read A corporate spin-off offers investors much better value than a new issue or IPO.

For our report on another way investors can uncover value, read How to realize big benefits from a holding company discount.

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