Paramount Global Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:PARA)

Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA) saw unusually large options trading on Thursday. Traders bought 29,149 put options on the company. This is an increase of 72% compared to the typical daily volume of 16,942 put options.

Paramount Global Price Performance

PARA opened at $11.86 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. The company has a market capitalization of $7.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.44, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.60. Paramount Global has a 12-month low of $9.54 and a 12-month high of $14.54. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $11.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $10.84.

Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported ($0.11) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by ($0.29). The company had revenue of $7.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.07 billion. Paramount Global had a positive return on equity of 5.81% and a negative net margin of 18.89%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Paramount Global will post 1.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paramount Global Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.05 per share. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. Paramount Global’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -2.15%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on PARA shares. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $14.00 price target on shares of Paramount Global in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Paramount Global from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $19.00 price objective on shares of Paramount Global in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Paramount Global in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Paramount Global currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $12.10.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Paramount Global

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Paramount Global by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,040,366 shares of the company’s stock valued at $701,242,000 after buying an additional 761,561 shares during the last quarter. Lingotto Investment Management LLP raised its stake in Paramount Global by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Lingotto Investment Management LLP now owns 44,753,299 shares of the company’s stock valued at $468,120,000 after buying an additional 1,593,579 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in Paramount Global by 18.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 44,154,027 shares of the company’s stock valued at $470,695,000 after buying an additional 6,848,037 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Paramount Global by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 20,593,954 shares of the company’s stock valued at $215,413,000 after buying an additional 1,119,314 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Paramount Global by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,567,531 shares of the company’s stock valued at $162,731,000 after buying an additional 724,565 shares during the last quarter. 73.00% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Paramount Global Company Profile

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.