News (NASDAQ:NWS) Hits New 52-Week High After Better-Than-Expected Earnings

News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWS) shares hit a new 52-week high on Thursday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock traded as high as $35.31 and last traded at $34.3550, with a volume of 261482 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $33.13.

The company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.11. News had a return on equity of 6.12% and a net margin of 12.92%.The firm had revenue of $2.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.25 billion.

News Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 7th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 60.0%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 9th. News’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.95%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on NWS shares. Zacks Research downgraded shares of News from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of News from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, News presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Institutional Trading of News

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. L1 Capital Pty Ltd bought a new position in shares of News in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $117,040,000. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its position in News by 2,991.9% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,947,039 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,691,000 after purchasing an additional 1,884,066 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in News by 15.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,163,392 shares of the company’s stock valued at $301,141,000 after purchasing an additional 1,344,287 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC bought a new position in shares of News in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $17,701,000. Finally, UBS Group AG lifted its stake in shares of News by 100.5% in the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,047,526 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,192,000 after buying an additional 525,119 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 14.63% of the company’s stock.

News Trading Up 3.0%

The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The company’s fifty day moving average is $30.43 and its 200-day moving average is $29.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.00 and a beta of 0.88.

About News

News Corporation (NASDAQ: NWS) is a global media and information services company engaged in news and digital real estate, book publishing and other media businesses. The company’s operations include print and digital newsbrands, business and financial information services, consumer platforms for property listings, and a major book publishing arm. Through its subsidiaries and brands, News Corp produces news content, market and financial reporting, online real-estate marketplaces and trade and consumer publishing products.

Key areas of activity include news and information, where the company publishes national and regional newspapers and operates business information services; book publishing through a well-known global publisher; and property-related digital businesses that operate online marketplaces for real estate listings.