New York Times (NYSE:NYT) Hits New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

The New York Times Company (NYSE:NYT) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $86.02 and last traded at $85.7470, with a volume of 238994 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $85.39.

Key Stories Impacting New York Times

Here are the key news stories impacting New York Times this week:

• Positive Sentiment: SpaceX filed to go public — a major tech/IPO story that will attract broad readership and financial-market traffic to NYT’s coverage, likely boosting engagement and ad/subscription conversion. SpaceX Files to Go Public, Setting Stage for Huge I.P.O.
• Positive Sentiment: Big A.I. fundraising surge — coverage of record venture rounds and an accelerating A.I. boom is high-value business journalism that draws paying readers and enterprise interest. A.I. Companies Shatter Fund-Raising Records, as Boom Accelerates
• Positive Sentiment: Supreme Court live coverage of birthright citizenship — real-time reporting on a landmark constitutional case drives pageviews and subscriber engagement for the Times’ legal and politics desks. Supreme Court Updates: Key Justices Appear Skeptical of Limiting Birthright Citizenship
• Positive Sentiment: High-profile Iran coverage — multiple Trump/Iran pieces (analysis of his address and reporting on Iran’s stance) are headline political stories that sustain subscriptions and ad revenue for national-news outlets. 5 Takeaways From Trump’s Address on Iran Iran Is Skeptical About Diplomacy for Now, U.S. Intelligence Says
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage of global space competition (China vs. NASA) and a niche Artemis II equipment story — good for audience interest and specialty readers but less likely to move broad subscriber numbers immediately. China’s Aiming for the Moon, and NASA Is Looking Over Its Shoulder The Artemis II Toilet Had a Problem
• Neutral Sentiment: Business/defense feature on South Korea’s defense sector — valuable enterprise reporting but only modest direct impact on NYT’s immediate traffic mix. Iran War Showcases Strength of South Korean Defense Sector
• Negative Sentiment: Ongoing political and legal actions targeting media and public broadcasters — executive orders, lawsuits and partisan attacks increase regulatory and reputational risk for news organizations and could spur advertiser or audience backlash in polarized segments. (Related reporting: judge blocks an order targeting NPR/PBS.) Trump’s Executive Order on NPR and PBS Is Unconstitutional, Judge Rules

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating on shares of New York Times in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of New York Times from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 7th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of New York Times from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Argus upgraded shares of New York Times to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of New York Times in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $70.86.

New York Times Trading Up 0.7%

The firm has a market capitalization of $13.87 billion, a PE ratio of 41.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.05. The business has a 50-day moving average of $77.02 and a 200 day moving average of $67.93.

New York Times (NYSE:NYT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.01. New York Times had a net margin of 12.18% and a return on equity of 20.73%. The firm had revenue of $802.31 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $791.55 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.80 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that The New York Times Company will post 2.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

New York Times Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 16th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. This is a boost from New York Times’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 1st. New York Times’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.45%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other New York Times news, Chairman Arthur G. Sulzberger sold 13,000 shares of New York Times stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.95, for a total transaction of $1,039,350.00. Following the transaction, the chairman owned 172,338 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,778,423.10. This trade represents a 7.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP William Bardeen sold 13,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.56, for a total value of $1,034,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 18,681 shares in the company, valued at $1,486,260.36. The trade was a 41.03% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 27,913 shares of company stock valued at $2,214,369. Corporate insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of New York Times

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of NYT. Navalign LLC bought a new position in New York Times in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC raised its stake in shares of New York Times by 74.2% during the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 446 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of New York Times during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. purchased a new position in shares of New York Times in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Grove Bank & Trust bought a new position in New York Times during the fourth quarter valued at about $42,000. 95.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About New York Times

The New York Times Company is a publicly traded media organization best known for publishing The New York Times newspaper and operating the NYTimes.com digital platform. The company produces daily print and digital journalism covering national and international news, opinion pieces, feature stories, and multimedia content. Alongside its flagship newspaper, the firm offers a range of subscription-based services, including Times Cooking, NYT Games, podcasts and newsletters, designed to engage a broad audience of readers and advertisers.

Founded in 1851 by Henry Jarvis Raymond and George Jones, The New York Times has built a reputation for in-depth reporting and investigative journalism.