News (NASDAQ:NWSA) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of News (NASDAQ:NWSA) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Saturday.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of News from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley set a $32.40 price target on shares of News in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of News from $40.00 to $39.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of News from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $37.02.

News Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NWSA opened at $24.47 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $24.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $25.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.05 and a beta of 0.91. 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 has a 52 week low of $22.20 and a 52 week high of $31.61.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.07. News had a net margin of 13.35% and a return on equity of 5.94%. The business had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.30 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.33 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that News will post 0.94 earnings per share for the current year.

News Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 11th. This represents a dividend yield of 83.0%. News’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.85%.

Institutional Trading of News

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of News during the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC acquired a new stake in shares of News during the second quarter worth approximately $30,000. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of News during the third quarter worth approximately $35,000. Advisory Services Network LLC acquired a new stake in shares of News during the third quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its holdings in shares of News by 154.5% during the third quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 1,285 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 780 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.97% of the company’s stock.

News Company Profile

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.