Paramount Global’s (PARA) “Buy” Rating Reaffirmed at Benchmark

Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by research analysts at Benchmark in a research note issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $19.00 price target on the stock. Benchmark’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 84.47% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on PARA. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $14.00 target price on shares of Paramount Global in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. StockNews.com upgraded Paramount Global from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Wolfe Research cut Paramount Global from a “peer perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $10.00 target price for the company. in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Argus lowered shares of Paramount Global from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Paramount Global in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. They issued a “sell” rating and a $9.50 price objective for the company. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $12.94.

Paramount Global Price Performance

PARA stock traded up $0.09 during trading on Friday, hitting $10.30. The stock had a trading volume of 14,193,206 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,767,447. Paramount Global has a twelve month low of $9.54 and a twelve month high of $17.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.86 billion, a P/E ratio of -68.67, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.78. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $11.06 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $11.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.19.

Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.40. The company had revenue of $6.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.21 billion. Paramount Global had a negative net margin of 0.15% and a positive return on equity of 3.35%. As a group, research analysts predict that Paramount Global will post 1.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Paramount Global

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Paramount Global by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 14,855 shares of the company’s stock worth $220,000 after acquiring an additional 769 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC raised its position in shares of Paramount Global by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 29,171 shares of the company’s stock valued at $431,000 after purchasing an additional 879 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Paramount Global by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 134,210 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,985,000 after buying an additional 887 shares during the last quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. grew its position in shares of Paramount Global by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 18,014 shares of the company’s stock worth $266,000 after buying an additional 889 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its stake in shares of Paramount Global by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 48,971 shares of the company’s stock worth $724,000 after buying an additional 897 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.00% of the company’s stock.

About Paramount Global

Paramount Global operates as a media, streaming, and entertainment company worldwide. It operates through TV Media, Direct-to-Consumer, and Filmed Entertainment segments. The TV Media segment operates CBS Television Network, a domestic broadcast television network; CBS Stations, a television station; and international free-to-air networks comprising Network 10, Channel 5, Telefe, and Chilevisión; domestic premium and basic cable networks, such as Paramount+ with Showtime, MTV, Comedy Central, Paramount Network, The Smithsonian Channel, Nickelodeon, BET Media Group, and CBS Sports Network; and international extensions of these brands.