The first full week of June is a big one for at least three media companies which seek increased institutional investment opportunities.
On Thursday, two key Beasley Broadcasting Group executives will be participating in a Fireside Chat at one big event that also sees Meredith Corp. making a presentation.
But, the investor-enticement activity starts Tuesday (6/5) in midtown Manhattan, as a Townsquare Media co-CEO sets up shop at the tony St. Regis New York.
It is Dhruv Prasad, who is making a habit of attending investor conferences on behalf of Townsquare, who will participate in tomorrow’s Guggenheim 2018 TMT Symposium at The St. Regis Hotel in New York.
The conference will consist of one-on-one meetings, rather than formal presentations.
Prasad’s presence at the Guggenheim Securities event, in its eighth year, is likely to mirror that seen in November 2017, when Prasad and EVP/Investor Relations Claire Yenicay held one-on-one meetings with some of Townsquare’s key investors at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch 2017 Leveraged Finance Conference in Boca Raton, Fla.
Such gatherings are common among publicly traded companies with institutional equity holders.
Some 64.5% of TSQ shares are held by institutions. The biggest holders are MSD Capital, with 11.8% of shares out as of Dec. 30, 2017. The second-largest holder in Townsquare is Oaktree Capital Management, with 11.5% of shares out.
Blackrock, Bridgeway Capital Management and Renaissance Technologies each hold 3.1% of Townsquare stock, while The Vanguard Group is a holder of 2.9% of all Townsquare shares.
Will Prasad have to defend TSQ shares as undervalued when meeting with the institutional investors? Townsquare on June 1 hit a new five-year low of $6.15—the latest dip for a company whose shares have not closed above $10 since Oct. 30, 2017.
Much of the stock decline is likely tied to Townsquare’s efforts to refocus its efforts on its AM and FM radio stations located in small and medium-sized markets across the U.S. Eleven days ago, it completed the sale of North American Midway Entertainment (NAME) for a fraction of what it spent to purchase it just three years ago.
GABELLI GABBING TAPPED FOR THURSDAY
While the Guggenheim symposium has emerged as a significant Wall Street event throughout the last decade, so has an annual event now in its tenth year that’s hosted by Gabelli & Company.
The latest Gabelli Annual Entertainment and Broadcasting Symposium is being held Thursday (6/7) at the posh Lotte New York Palace.
Among the major events involving media companies is a “fireside chat” set for 3:50pm Eastern featuring Beasley CEO Caroline Beasley and CFO Marie Tedesco. A Q&A session will follow the cozy conversation.
Of course, Ms. Beasley and Tedesco will also meet with institutional investors at the conference across Thursday.
Beasley’s investor presentation will be available on its website as of 8:30am Eastern Tuesday (6/5).
Beasley heads in to the Gabelli conference with good news for stockholders: The radio broadcasting company’s Board of Directors has declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.05 per share of its Class A and Class B common stock. The dividend is payable on July 6, to shareholders of record on June 29.
Before Beasley and Tedesco conduct their chat, a lunch-hour presentation will be conducted by executives from Meredith Corp., the owner of 17 television stations reaching 11% of U.S. households and a host of lifestyle brands targeting female consumers.
Meredith’s presentation is scheduled for 12:30pm Eastern; a copy of the presentation can be found on the company’s website.
