SMU owns second half in win over Longwood
Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in TEGNA Inc. ( NYSE:TGNA – Free Report ) by 26.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 891,488 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 184,845 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.55% of TEGNA worth $14,068,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in TEGNA during the third quarter worth $28,000. Quarry LP raised its holdings in shares of TEGNA by 455.2% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 4,025 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,000 after acquiring an additional 3,300 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE boosted its position in shares of TEGNA by 20.4% during the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 4,503 shares of the company’s stock valued at $71,000 after acquiring an additional 764 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC grew its holdings in shares of TEGNA by 48.2% in the second quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 4,520 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 1,470 shares during the period. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in TEGNA during the third quarter worth about $133,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.19% of the company’s stock. TEGNA Trading Down 0.9 % TGNA opened at $18.38 on Friday. TEGNA Inc. has a 52 week low of $12.35 and a 52 week high of $19.62. The company has a quick ratio of 2.60, a current ratio of 2.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $17.97 and a 200-day simple moving average of $15.76. The firm has a market cap of $2.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.49 and a beta of 0.52. TEGNA Announces Dividend The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.125 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.72%. TEGNA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.67%. Analysts Set New Price Targets TGNA has been the subject of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of TEGNA from $16.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Benchmark raised their target price on TEGNA from $21.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded TEGNA from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $21.00 to $23.00 in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of TEGNA from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Get Our Latest Research Report on TGNA Insider Buying and Selling at TEGNA In related news, COO Lynn B. Trelstad sold 25,000 shares of TEGNA stock in a transaction on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.40, for a total value of $410,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 154,617 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,535,718.80. This trade represents a 13.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink . 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders. About TEGNA ( Free Report ) 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. Read More Five stocks we like better than TEGNA Best Aerospace Stocks Investing Buffett Takes the Bait; Berkshire Buys More Oxy in December What is Short Interest? How to Use It Top 3 ETFs to Hedge Against Inflation in 2025 What is MarketRankTM? How to Use it These 3 Chip Stock Kings Are Still Buys for 2025 Receive News & Ratings for TEGNA Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for TEGNA and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter .Stocks wavered on Wall Street in afternoon trading Thursday, as gains in tech companies and retailers helped temper losses elsewhere in the market. The S&P 500 was down less than 0.1% after drifting between small gains and losses. The benchmark index is coming off a three-day winning streak. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 6 points, or less than 0.1%, as of 1:52 p.m. Eastern time. The Nasdaq composite was down less than 0.1%. Trading volume was lighter than usual as U.S. markets reopened after the Christmas holiday. Chip company Broadcom rose 2.9%, Micron Technology was up 1% and Adobe gained 0.8%. While tech stocks overall were in the green, some heavyweights were a drag on the market. Semiconductor giant Nvidia, whose enormous valuation gives it an outsize influence on indexes, slipped 0.1%. Meta Platforms fell 0.7%, Amazon was down 0.6%, and Netflix gave up 1.1%. Tesla was among the biggest decliners in the S&P 500, down 1.9%. Health care stocks helped lift the market. CVS Health rose 1.7% and Walgreens Boots Alliance rose 3% for the biggest gain among S&P 500 stocks. Several retailers also gained ground. Target rose 2.8%, Best Buy was up 2.2% and Dollar Tree gained 2.7%. Retailers are hoping for a solid sales this holiday season, and the day after Christmas traditionally ranks among the top 10 biggest shopping days of the year, as consumers go online or rush to stores to cash in gift cards and raid bargain bins. U.S.-listed shares in Honda and Nissan rose 4% and 16%, respectively. The Japanese automakers announced earlier this week that the two companies are in talks to combine. Traders got a labor market update. U.S. applications for unemployment benefits held steady last week , though continuing claims rose to the highest level in three years, the Labor Department reported. Treasury yields turned mostly lower in the bond market. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.57% from 4.59% late Tuesday. Major European markets were closed, as well as Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand and Indonesia. Trading was expected to be subdued this week with a thin slate of economic data on the calendar. Still, U.S. markets have historically gotten a boost at year’s end despite lower trading volumes. The last five trading days of each year, plus the first two in the new year, have brought an average gain of 1.3% since 1950. So far this month, the U.S. stock market has lost some of its gains since President-elect Donald Trump’s win on Election Day, which raised hopes for faster economic growth and more lax regulations that would boost corporate profits. Worries have risen that Trump’s preference for tariffs and other policies could lead to higher inflation , a bigger U.S. government debt and difficulties for global trade. Even so, the U.S. market remains on pace to deliver strong returns for 2024. The benchmark S&P 500 is up roughly 26% so far this year and remains near its most recent all-time high it set earlier this month — its latest of 57 record highs this year. Wall Street has several economic reports to look forward to next week, including updates on pending home sales and home prices, a report on U.S. construction spending and snapshots of manufacturing activity. AP Business Writers Elaine Kurtenbach and Matt Ott contributed.
Consumers in the United States scoured the internet for online deals as they looked to take advantage of the post-Thanksgiving shopping marathon with Cyber Monday. Even though e-commerce is now part and parcel of many people's regular routines and the holiday shopping season, Cyber Monday — a term coined in 2005 by the National Retail Federation — has become the biggest online shopping day of the year, thanks to the deals and the hype the industry has created to fuel it. Adobe Analytics, which tracks online shopping, expected consumers to spend $13.2 billion Monday — a record, and 6.1% more than last year. That would make it the biggest shopping day for e-commerce for the season — and the year. Online spending was expected to peak between the hours of 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. on Monday night, per Adobe — reaching an estimated $15.7 million spent every minute. For several major retailers, a Cyber Monday sale is a dayslong event that began over the Thanksgiving weekend. An Amazon Prime delivery person lifts packages while making a stop Nov. 28, 2023, in Denver. Amazon kicked off its sales event right after midnight Pacific time on Saturday. Target's two days of discount offers on its website and app began overnight Sunday. Walmart rolled out its Cyber Monday offers for Walmart+ members Sunday afternoon and opened it up to all customers three hours later, at 8 p.m. Eastern time. Consumer spending for Cyber Week — the five major shopping days between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday — provides a strong indication of how much shoppers are willing to spend for the holidays. Many U.S. consumers continue to experience sticker shock after the period of post-pandemic inflation, which left prices for many goods and services higher than they were three years ago. But retail sales nonetheless remain strong, and the economy kept growing at a healthy pace. At the same time, credit card debt and delinquencies are rising. More shoppers than ever are also on track to use "buy now, pay later" plans this holiday season, which allows them to delay payments on holiday decor, gifts and other items. Many economists also warned that President-elect Donald Trump's plan to impose tariffs next year on foreign goods coming into the United States would lead to higher prices on everything from food to clothing to automobiles. A FedEx delivery person carries a package from a truck Nov. 17, 2022, in Denver. The National Retail Federation expects holiday shoppers to spend more this year both in stores and online than last year. But the pace of spending growth will slow slightly, the trade group said, growing 2.5% to 3.5% — compared to 3.9% in 2023. A clear sense of consumer spending patterns during the holiday season won't emerge until the government releases sales data for the period, but some preliminary data from other sources shows some encouraging signs for retailers. Vivek Pandya, lead analyst at Adobe Digital Insights, noted that discounts from Thanksgiving onward "exceeded expectations" and online spending throughout Cyber Week is on track to cross a record $40 billion mark combined. U.S. shoppers spent $10.8 billion online on Black Friday, a 10.2% increase over last year, according to Adobe Analytics. That's also more than double what consumers spent in 2017, when Black Friday pulled in about $5 billion in online sales. Consumers also spent a record $6.1 billion online on Thanksgiving Day, Adobe said. Meanwhile, software company Salesforce, which also tracks online shopping, estimated that Black Friday online sales totaled $17.5 billion in the U.S. and $74.4 billion globally. Mastercard SpendingPulse, which tracks in-person and online spending, reported that overall Black Friday sales excluding automotive rose 3.4% from a year ago. A United Parcel Service driver sorts deliveries July 15, 2023, on New York's Upper West Side. E-commerce platform Shopify said its merchants raked in a record $5 billion in sales worldwide on Black Friday. At its peak, sales reached $4.6 million per minute — with top categories by volume including clothing, cosmetics and fitness products, according to the Canadian company. Toys, electronics, home goods, self-care and beauty categories were among the key drivers of holiday spending on Thanksgiving and Black Friday, according to Adobe. "Hot products" included Lego sets, espresso machines, fitness trackers, makeup and skin care. Other data showed physical stores saw fewer customers on Black Friday, underscoring how the huge crowds that were once synonymous with the day after Thanksgiving are now more than happy to shop from the comfort of their homes. RetailNext, which measures real-time foot traffic in stores, said its early data showed store traffic on Friday was down 3.2% in the U.S. compared to last year, with the biggest dip happening in the Midwest. Sensormatic Solutions, which also tracks store traffic, said its preliminary analysis showed retail store traffic on Black Friday was down 8.2% compared to 2023. Grant Gustafson, head of retail consulting and analytics at Sensormatic Solutions, noted that in-store traffic was getting spread across multiple days since many retailers offered generous discounts before and after Black Friday. "Some of the extended Black Friday promotions really ended up leading to a little bit of a softer day-of traffic than expected," Gustafson said. In 2024, staying small on purpose seems to be paying off big for small businesses. They're keeping operations small and targeting niche, highly specialized customers. And some business owners find this strategy results in more time, energy, and money to intentionally capitalize on unique, small cap opportunities. The data tells the story of growth in small businesses for the year. According to NEXT , the Small Business Administration (SBA) reports awarding 38,000 SBA 7(a) loans under $150,000: double the amount they awarded in 2020. Here are the related small-business trends paying off in 2024. Commercial real estate agent Ryan Beckenhauer of Market Real Estate in Boulder, Colorado, has noticed that small businesses are growing smaller, and that their office and warehouse spaces are starting to reflect that as they shop for business space. In commercial real estate, many small business owners gravitate toward industrial condos and other flexible spaces. These are small-scale industrial spaces with a 90:10 or 80:20 split of warehouse to office. "More individuals are leveraging skills acquired at larger organizations to venture out on their own," explains Beckenhauer. And he goes on to say that they don't need a large commercial space as they make that leap to start a business. His clients include engineers, consultants, builders and other tradespeople. Beckenhauer's clients like the flexibility of being out of an office and being close to their inventory and workshop space. "The clients want to see and touch the finishes," he says. Small business owners both rent or buy these spaces. But he's seeing his clients opt to own industrial condos to stabilize costs due to rent increases in Boulder. And because these spaces are smaller, it can be easier for new buyers to qualify for financing. Mariana Alvarez, owner of Controller Works , an online bookkeeping and advisory firm, has noticed that small business owners outsource financial support services because they don't want to increase headcount. "Outsourcing gives them the possibility of having access to the knowledge and the skills of a CFO without having to pay for the salary," she says. "They don't have to manage or deal with the workload, employment taxes , and all that comes with it," says Alvarez. Additionally, many small business owners in fields like construction are family-owned, and this makes it easier for business owners to hand off delicate financial work to a trusted person with financial experience. Every small business has recurring tasks that can benefit from some level of artificial intelligence automation . And Alvarez sees a lot of value in using AI for small business bookkeeping. She explains that you can automate the data entry on Quickbooks. "When you create rules, as long as you create the rules correctly, it pretty much does itself," says Alvarez. From there, you can lean on financial experts to help you analyze the data and make more informed decisions. She uses AI as a background resource when guiding her accounting clients. "I believe that we still need the human-to-human interaction that comes with more perspective for financial analysis," she explains. According to the SBA , 77% of consumers feel that human interaction is still required for a positive customer experience. People turn to small businesses every day for a human experience. According to Arvind Rongala, CEO of Edstellar , small business workers can show up for their customers but still use AI for routine tasks like customer queries. "This balance allows companies to scale their operations without losing the personal touch that makes them unique. It's important to remember that AI isn't there to replace the human element—it's there to enhance it," he says. "By really focusing on one very small weakness that Amazon has, I've been able to carve out a successful business by offering something different," says Lou Harvey owner of Tank Retailer , a retailer of commercial water and fuel tanks. "When you read our customer reviews, many of them actually mention me by name because of how much we focus on customer service and go the extra mile." One of Harvey's most successful business strategies this year has been to lean into his small, niche market and offer the kind of customer experience that large retailers like Amazon don't. "Any small weaknesses that Amazon has (however small those weaknesses may be) needs to become a strength of a smaller business focusing on a niche market," says Harvey. Harvey has his company's customer service phone number front and center on the website to help earn customer trust. "I prominently feature our phone number, and a real person always answers the phone (usually it's me)," says Harvey. Lucie Voves, CEO and founder of Church Hill Classics , an online, woman-owned diploma framing company that uses sustainable materials, has noticed an uptick in customers seeking services from a business on a mission. "This year, we've seen a growing inclination for consumers to actively seek out and support small businesses owned by women and minorities," says Voves. When consumers shop small, they choose to make their dollars count. "Customers are fueled by a desire to promote social impact through purchasing power," says Voves. Long gone are the days of online retailers "building it and they will come." In 2024 we've seen more small businesses than ever turn to social commerce to sell directly on social media platforms like Instagram Shopping , Facebook Marketplace , and TikTok . Small business owners are turning toward influencers, social media ads, and organic content to target their customers. Mike Vannelli of Envy Creative creates online ads for businesses, and he has seen his clients succeed on TikTok of late. "I've seen businesses, especially in retail, use TikTok's short-form video format to make their products go viral. Think of it as word-of-mouth marketing on steroids," says Vannelli. He uses the platform's algorithm to push a company's content to the right audiences, and it works because TikTok loves storytelling. "I know small brands that use behind-the-scenes videos, customer testimonials, and even playful challenges that tap into trends to humanize their products and build trust," explains Vannelli. To stand out on TikTok, he says, smaller brands need to embrace authenticity and emotional connection. Show your team, share your journey, and involve your community in content creation. This story was produced by NEXT and reviewed and distributed by Stacker. Get the latest local business news delivered FREE to your inbox weekly.A recent US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing revealed that Elon Musk's AI company, xAI, raised £4.78 billion ($6 billion) from 97 investors in exchange for equity. The funds will be used to expedite training its powerful AI model, Grok 3, alongside enhancing technology across SpaceX and Tesla. The Grok AI model will likely support more functions on X, formerly Twitter, including search capabilities and post analytics. xAI also powers Starlink's customer support features and is discussing with Tesla about offering R&D services for a share of the EV company's revenue. The SEC filing highlighted that 97 investors participated in xAI's latest fundraising round. The investors were required to inject a minimum capital of £61,897 ($77,593). Soon after, xAI disclosed the names of several investors, including BlackRock, Morgan Stanley, Nvidia, AMD, Sequoia Capital, Fidelity Management & Research Company, MGX, Vy Capital, Lightspeed, Valor Equity Partners, and Kingdom Holdings. xAI's latest fundraising round brings its total capital raised since inception to £9.57 billion ($12 billion). The AI company raised $6 billion during spring this year. According to a November CNBC report , Musk's company was eyeing a £39.88 billion ($50 billion) valuation, almost double compared to six months earlier. Interestingly, only investors who supported xAI in the Spring fundraising round were allowed to participate in the latest round. Furthermore, investors who assisted Musk in acquiring Twitter reportedly had the privilege of accessing up to 25% of xAI's outstanding shares. Elon Musk incorporated xAI in 2023 and launched the generative AI model Grok to compete with ChatGPT. He described Grok as 'maximally truth-seeking' and relatively less biased. The firm recently rolled out an API to let customers integrate Grok into third-party apps, platforms, and services. It also released a standalone Grok iOS app to catch up with GenAI competitors like OpenAI and Anthropic. Note that Musk was one of the founders of OpenAI, which he left in 2018 over disagreements about where the company was headed. xAI is training next-gen Grok models at its Memphis data centre, which hosts 100,000 Nvidia graphics processing units (GPU). Last month, the company secured 150 megawatts of extra power from Memphis' regional power authority. In turn, xAI promised to improve the city's drinking water quality and offer discounted Tesla-manufactured batteries to the power grid. xAI's developer and consumer-focused services drove company revenue to almost £79.76 million ($100 million) annually. xAI has reportedly informed shareholders it will likely raise more funding in 2025. Disclaimer: Our digital media content is for informational purposes only and not investment advice. Please conduct your own analysis or seek professional advice before investing. Remember, investments are subject to market risks and past performance doesn't indicate future returns.