News (NASDAQ:NWSA) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of News (NASDAQ:NWSA) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report released on Saturday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on NWSA. Zacks Research downgraded News from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of News from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 21st. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $35.00 price target on shares of News in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of News from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $38.50.

News Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of NWSA stock opened at $28.95 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.11 and a beta of 0.97. News has a 12-month low of $22.20 and a 12-month high of $31.66. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $29.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $27.21.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.14. News had a return on equity of 7.09% and a net margin of 6.35%.The company had revenue of $2.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.25 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.19 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that News will post 1.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

News Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 9th will be issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 9th. This represents a dividend yield of 68.0%. News’s payout ratio is 19.42%.

Institutional Trading of News

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of NWSA. Independent Franchise Partners LLP increased its position in News by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 29,934,048 shares of the company’s stock valued at $781,877,000 after acquiring an additional 1,137,691 shares during the last quarter. Metropolis Capital Ltd boosted its stake in shares of News by 26.4% during the 1st quarter. Metropolis Capital Ltd now owns 8,835,157 shares of the company’s stock worth $220,260,000 after purchasing an additional 1,843,900 shares during the period. State of Wisconsin Investment Board grew its holdings in News by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. State of Wisconsin Investment Board now owns 7,365,364 shares of the company’s stock valued at $192,383,000 after purchasing an additional 275,480 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in News by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,245,597 shares of the company’s stock worth $105,842,000 after purchasing an additional 94,368 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in News by 80.9% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 4,069,041 shares of the company’s stock worth $101,441,000 after purchasing an additional 1,819,652 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.97% of the company’s stock.

News Company Profile

News Corp (NASDAQ: NWSA) is a global media and information-services company that creates and distributes news, business information, books, digital content and real estate services. Its operations serve consumers, professionals, institutions and businesses across the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and other international markets.

The company’s Dow Jones division provides business and financial news, data and information through publications and platforms including The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s, MarketWatch, Factiva and Dow Jones Newswires.