News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWSA) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWSA) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $38.50.

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Zacks Research cut News from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Wall Street Zen raised News from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. Weiss Ratings upgraded News from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of News from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $35.00 price objective on shares of News in a research note on Thursday, August 6th.

News Stock Performance

Shares of NWSA stock opened at $30.38 on Monday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $27.39 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $25.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.51. News has a 1 year low of $22.20 and a 1 year high of $31.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.50 and a beta of 0.88.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $2.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.25 billion. News had a return on equity of 7.09% and a net margin of 6.35%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.19 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that News will post 1.31 earnings per share for the current year.

News Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 9th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 68.0%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 9th. News’s payout ratio is 19.42%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On News

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. lifted its position in shares of News by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. now owns 11,521 shares of the company’s stock worth $301,000 after purchasing an additional 496 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in News by 23.2% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,648 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,000 after buying an additional 498 shares in the last quarter. Compound Planning Inc. raised its stake in News by 5.0% in the first quarter. Compound Planning Inc. now owns 11,184 shares of the company’s stock worth $279,000 after buying an additional 537 shares in the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in News by 5.9% during the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 10,139 shares of the company’s stock worth $311,000 after buying an additional 563 shares during the period. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its position in News by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 151,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,947,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.97% of the company’s stock.

About News

News Corporation (NASDAQ: NWSA) is a global diversified media and information services company headquartered in New York City. It operates through two principal segments: News and Information Services, and Digital Real Estate Services. The company’s news and information division oversees a portfolio of leading newspapers, magazines and digital platforms, offering content across print and online channels. Its properties include Dow Jones, publisher of The Wall Street Journal and Barron’s, News UK titles such as The Times and The Sun, as well as News Corp Australia mastheads.

In addition to its journalism assets, News Corp is a significant player in book publishing through HarperCollins, one of the world’s largest consumer publishers.