News (NASDAQ:NWSA) Upgraded by Wall Street Zen to Buy Rating
by Sarita Garza · The Markets DailyWall Street Zen upgraded shares of News (NASDAQ:NWSA – Free Report) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report released on Saturday morning.
NWSA has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Morgan Stanley set a $32.40 target price on shares of News in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Zacks Research raised shares of News from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Citigroup cut their price objective on News from $40.00 to $39.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut News from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $37.02.
Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on NWSA
News Price Performance
Shares of NASDAQ:NWSA opened at $24.40 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $24.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $25.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.02 and a beta of 0.91. News has a 1 year low of $22.20 and a 1 year high of $31.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.69 and a current ratio of 1.81.
News (NASDAQ:NWSA – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.07. News had a net margin of 13.35% and a return on equity of 5.94%. The firm had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.30 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.33 earnings per share. News’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that News will post 0.94 earnings per share for the current year.
News Dividend Announcement
The company also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 11th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 11th. This represents a dividend yield of 83.0%. News’s dividend payout ratio is 9.85%.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On News
Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of News during the third quarter valued at about $31,000. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC purchased a new position in News in the second quarter valued at about $30,000. Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in News in the third quarter valued at about $35,000. Advisory Services Network LLC acquired a new stake in News during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its holdings in News by 154.5% during the 3rd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 1,285 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 780 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.97% of the company’s stock.
About News
News Corporation (NASDAQ: NWSA) is a global diversified media and information services company headquartered in New York City. It operates through two principal segments: News and Information Services, and Digital Real Estate Services. The company’s news and information division oversees a portfolio of leading newspapers, magazines and digital platforms, offering content across print and online channels. Its properties include Dow Jones, publisher of The Wall Street Journal and Barron’s, News UK titles such as The Times and The Sun, as well as News Corp Australia mastheads.
In addition to its journalism assets, News Corp is a significant player in book publishing through HarperCollins, one of the world’s largest consumer publishers.