StockNews.com Initiates Coverage on Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA)

StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA) in a report released on Thursday morning. The firm issued a hold rating on the stock.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and set a $14.00 target price on shares of Paramount Global in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $19.00 price objective on shares of Paramount Global in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Paramount Global from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Paramount Global from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $12.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Paramount Global in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $11.92.

Paramount Global Stock Performance

Shares of PARA stock opened at $11.65 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $7.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.42, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.27. Paramount Global has a 52 week low of $9.54 and a 52 week high of $14.54. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $11.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $11.02.

Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported ($0.11) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.18 by ($0.29). The firm had revenue of $7.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.07 billion. Paramount Global had a negative net margin of 18.89% and a positive return on equity of 5.81%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Paramount Global will post 1.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Paramount Global Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th were given a dividend of $0.05 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.72%. Paramount Global’s dividend payout ratio is currently -2.15%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Paramount Global by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,040,366 shares of the company’s stock valued at $701,242,000 after purchasing an additional 761,561 shares during the last quarter. Lingotto Investment Management LLP boosted its position 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 in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Paramount Global by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 20,593,954 shares of the company’s stock worth $215,413,000 after buying an additional 1,119,314 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Paramount Global by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,567,531 shares of the company’s stock worth $162,731,000 after buying an additional 724,565 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ariel Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Paramount Global by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Ariel Investments LLC now owns 14,663,907 shares of the company’s stock valued at $153,384,000 after acquiring an additional 460,539 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.00% of the company’s stock.

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.