Townsquare Media (NYSE:TSQ) Upgraded by StockNews.com to Buy

Townsquare Media (NYSE:TSQ) was upgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Friday.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on TSQ. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on Townsquare Media from $12.00 to $12.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $17.00 price objective on shares of Townsquare Media in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Noble Financial lifted their price objective on Townsquare Media from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st.

Townsquare Media Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of TSQ traded down $0.10 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $11.91. The company had a trading volume of 53,629 shares, compared to its average volume of 55,789. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $11.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $10.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 50.41, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a current ratio of 1.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $198.06 million, a P/E ratio of -4.35, a P/E/G ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.37. Townsquare Media has a 1 year low of $8.00 and a 1 year high of $13.57.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman Steven Price sold 1,565,681 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.36, for a total transaction of $19,351,817.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 897,115 shares in the company, valued at $11,088,341.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Townsquare Media news, CEO Bill Wilson sold 391,420 shares of Townsquare Media stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.36, for a total transaction of $4,837,951.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,139,135 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,439,708.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Chairman Steven Price sold 1,565,681 shares of Townsquare Media stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.36, for a total value of $19,351,817.16. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 897,115 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,088,341.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 2,886,934 shares of company stock worth $35,653,276 over the last 90 days. 30.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TSQ. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its position in Townsquare Media by 169.3% during the third quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,597 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 2,890 shares during the period. Group One Trading L.P. acquired a new position in Townsquare Media during the first quarter worth approximately $40,000. Citigroup Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Townsquare Media in the second quarter valued at approximately $41,000. California State Teachers Retirement System acquired a new position in shares of Townsquare Media in the second quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Arbitrage SNC acquired a new position in shares of Townsquare Media in the second quarter valued at approximately $63,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.69% of the company’s stock.

About Townsquare Media

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.