News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Buy” from Analysts

Shares of News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA) have earned an average recommendation of “Buy” from the six ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $39.25.

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Citigroup started coverage on News in a research report on Friday, January 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $36.00 price target for the company. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of News to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Loop Capital dropped their target price on shares of News from $44.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. UBS Group raised shares of News from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Guggenheim raised their target price on News from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Barclays PLC raised its stake in News by 124.0% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 14,713,823 shares of the company’s stock valued at $391,832,000 after acquiring an additional 8,144,856 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of News during the 4th quarter worth approximately $172,357,000. Asset Value Investors Ltd bought a new position in News during the 4th quarter worth $122,391,000. Deutsche Bank AG raised its stake in News by 291.2% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 4,941,467 shares of the company’s stock valued at $136,088,000 after purchasing an additional 3,678,215 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Independent Franchise Partners LLP boosted its position in shares of News by 11.8% during the 4th quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 26,617,259 shares of the company’s stock worth $733,039,000 after acquiring an additional 2,812,080 shares in the last quarter. 66.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

News Stock Performance

Shares of NWSA opened at $25.59 on Friday. News has a 12-month low of $22.65 and a 12-month high of $30.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.06 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 1.65. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $27.61 and its 200-day moving average is $27.72.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.04. News had a return on equity of 5.31% and a net margin of 4.22%. Equities research analysts anticipate that News will post 0.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

News Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.56%. News’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.40%.

News Company Profile

News Corporation, a media and information services company, creates and distributes authoritative and engaging content, and other products and services for consumers and businesses worldwide. It operates through six segments: Digital Real Estate Services, Subscription Video Services, Dow Jones, Book Publishing, News Media, and Other.