The New York Times Company (NYSE:NYT) Short Interest Down 15.9% in April

The New York Times Company (NYSE:NYT) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totaling 8,186,033 shares, a drop of 15.9% from the March 31st total of 9,732,285 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,940,505 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.2 days. Currently, 5.2% of the shares of the company are sold short.

New York Times News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Heavy breaking political coverage (Trump/foreign policy live updates) can drive traffic and subscriber engagement, supporting NYT’s core digital-revenue growth. Trump Administration Live Updates
• Positive Sentiment: Large national-security and tech stories (Pentagon deals with A.I. companies) are high-interest topics that historically boost page views and premium subscriptions for investigative/analysis coverage. Pentagon Makes Deals With A.I. Companies
• Neutral Sentiment: Ongoing crime and security reporting (video release in Correspondents’ Dinner attack, Brown University shooting follow-ups) may lift temporary engagement but are hard to monetize long term. Authorities Release Video of Suspect
• Neutral Sentiment: Soft consumer-interest pieces (Broadway debuts) are audience-building but have limited direct ad or subscription impact versus hard news. These 5 Actors Are Already Screen Stars
• Negative Sentiment: Earnings preview: analysts expect Q1 results to hinge on digital subscription gains vs. print weakness; Zacks flags margin pressure from higher spending, which could temper upside even if revenue grows. This is the clearest near-term driver weighing on the stock. Key Factors to Watch Ahead of Q1 Earnings
• Negative Sentiment: Broader policy stories (Obamacare subsidy expiration and declining enrollments) and prolonged high-intensity news cycles can pressure ad markets and consumer budgets, creating uncertainty for advertising revenue and subscription growth sustainability. Since Congress Let Obamacare Subsidies Expire

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of New York Times in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $84.00 target price on the stock. Barclays raised 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 report on Tuesday, January 20th. Guggenheim set a $63.00 price target on shares of New York Times and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. 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. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of New York Times to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $72.50.

New York Times Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NYT traded down $0.41 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $78.62. 2,973,891 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,950,983. New York Times has a fifty-two week low of $51.03 and a fifty-two week high of $87.10. The firm has a market cap of $12.68 billion, a PE ratio of 37.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.06. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $80.90 and a 200-day simple moving average of $71.40.

New York Times (NYSE:NYT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $802.31 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $791.55 million. New York Times had a net margin of 12.18% and a return on equity of 20.73%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.80 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that New York Times will post 2.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

New York Times Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 16th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 1st were given a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. This is a positive change from New York Times’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 1st. New York Times’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.02%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other New York Times news, CAO R Anthony Benten sold 1,913 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.57, for a total value of $140,739.41. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 37,772 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,778,886.04. This trade represents a 4.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Chairman Arthur G. Sulzberger sold 13,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.95, for a total transaction of $1,039,350.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman directly owned 172,338 shares in the company, valued at $13,778,423.10. This represents a 7.01% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 27,913 shares of company stock valued at $2,214,369 over the last quarter. Insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC grew its position in New York Times by 4.2% in the first quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC now owns 3,366 shares of the company’s stock worth $282,000 after buying an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Andina Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in New York Times by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Andina Capital Management LLC now owns 8,814 shares of the company’s stock worth $612,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares during the period. Jackson Thornton Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in New York Times by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Jackson Thornton Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,355 shares of the company’s stock worth $302,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the period. Figure 8 Investment Strategies LLC boosted its stake in New York Times by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Figure 8 Investment Strategies LLC now owns 11,226 shares of the company’s stock worth $644,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the period. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. boosted its stake in New York Times by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 17,944 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,246,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.37% of the company’s stock.

New York Times Company Profile

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.