Townsquare Media (NYSE:TSQ) Raised to “Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Townsquare Media (NYSE:TSQ) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Friday.

TSQ has been the subject of a number of other reports. Guggenheim upped their target price on shares of Townsquare Media from $12.00 to $12.50 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. Noble Financial upped their target price on shares of Townsquare Media from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Barrington Research reaffirmed an outperform rating and issued a $17.00 target price on shares of Townsquare Media in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd.

Townsquare Media Price Performance

Shares of TSQ opened at $11.91 on Friday. Townsquare Media has a 1-year low of $8.00 and a 1-year high of $13.57. The stock has a market cap of $198.06 million, a PE ratio of -4.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 50.41, a current ratio of 1.74 and a quick ratio of 1.74. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $11.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $10.34.

Townsquare Media (NYSE:TSQ) last announced its earnings results on Friday, March 15th. The company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.08. Townsquare Media had a negative net margin of 9.90% and a positive return on equity of 55.40%. The business had revenue of $114.79 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $111.78 million. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Townsquare Media will post 1.54 EPS for the current year.

Townsquare Media Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.198 per share. This represents a $0.79 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.65%. This is a positive change from Townsquare Media’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 4th. Townsquare Media’s payout ratio is -28.83%.

Insider Transactions at Townsquare Media

In other news, COO Erik Hellum sold 3,380 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.03, for a total transaction of $37,281.40. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 736,736 shares in the company, valued at $8,126,198.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Townsquare Media news, COO Erik Hellum sold 3,380 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.03, for a total transaction of $37,281.40. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 736,736 shares in the company, valued at $8,126,198.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Stuart B. Rosenstein sold 782,840 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.36, for a total transaction of $9,675,902.40. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 492,663 shares in the company, valued at $6,089,314.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 2,886,934 shares of company stock worth $35,653,276 over the last ninety days. 30.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in Townsquare Media by 0.3% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 818,235 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,135,000 after buying an additional 2,504 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. grew its position in shares of Townsquare Media by 295.4% in the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 631,135 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,517,000 after purchasing an additional 471,529 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Townsquare Media by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 591,495 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,246,000 after purchasing an additional 7,252 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Townsquare Media by 1.2% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 536,140 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,892,000 after purchasing an additional 6,590 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Access Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Townsquare Media in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,156,000. 71.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Townsquare Media Company Profile

Townsquare Media, Inc operates as a digital media and marketing solutions company in small and medium-sized businesses. It operates through three segments: Subscription Digital Marketing Solutions, Digital Advertising, and Broadcast Advertising. The Subscription Digital Marketing Solutions segment offers website design, creation, and development, as well as hosting services; and search engine optimization, online directory optimization, e-commerce solutions, online reputation monitoring, social media management, appointment scheduling, payment and invoice, customer management, and email and SMS marketing services.