News (NASDAQ:NWSA) Stock Rating Upgraded by Zacks Research

News (NASDAQ:NWSA) was upgraded by equities researchers at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report issued on Wednesday, Zacks reports.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Weiss Ratings downgraded News from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday. Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on News in a report on Monday, October 19th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $35.00 price target for the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded News from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on News from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $35.00 price objective on shares of News in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and five have given a Buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, News has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $36.50.

News Stock Down 2.1%

Shares of NASDAQ NWSA opened at $26.27 on Wednesday. News has a 12-month low of $22.20 and a 12-month high of $31.66. The company has a market capitalization of $14.21 billion, a PE ratio of 23.46 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.50. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $29.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $26.96.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 4th. The company reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.02. News had a net margin of 6.76% and a return on equity of 7.42%. The business had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.27 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.22 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that News will post 1.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of News

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of NWSA. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. acquired a new position in News in the 3rd quarter valued at $79,840,000. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in shares of News by 80.9% during 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. Sei Investments Co. grew its position in shares of News by 120.6% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 2,326,616 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,002,000 after purchasing an additional 1,272,083 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its position in shares of News by 174.3% in the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 1,911,329 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,649,000 after purchasing an additional 1,214,648 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of News by 331.0% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 730,471 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,138,000 after purchasing an additional 561,005 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.97% of the company’s stock.

About News

News Corporation is a global media and information services company. Its businesses include Dow Jones, which provides financial news and data through outlets such as The Wall Street Journal; HarperCollins, a book publisher; and News Corp’s news media operations, which publish newspapers and digital news services. The company also operates digital real estate businesses, including Realtor.com in the United States and REA Group in Australia. Its brands and services reach audiences and customers across the Americas, Europe, Australia and other international markets.