Brokerages Set News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA) PT at $39.25

Shares of News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the six brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $39.25.

Several equities research analysts recently commented on NWSA shares. Loop Capital cut their price target on shares of News from $44.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 23rd. StockNews.com raised shares of News from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of News to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup started coverage on News in a research note on Friday, January 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $36.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their price objective on News from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On News

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Seelaus Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in News by 3.8% during the third quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 11,399 shares of the company’s stock worth $304,000 after buying an additional 417 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of News by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 21,962 shares of the company’s stock worth $605,000 after acquiring an additional 418 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of News by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 11,576 shares of the company’s stock valued at $319,000 after acquiring an additional 422 shares during the last quarter. Boyar Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of News by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Boyar Asset Management Inc. now owns 15,203 shares of the company’s stock valued at $419,000 after purchasing an additional 422 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. grew its holdings in shares of News by 18.5% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 3,334 shares of the company’s stock valued at $92,000 after purchasing an additional 521 shares during the period. 66.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

News Stock Down 1.1 %

NWSA opened at $28.53 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a current ratio of 1.73. News has a fifty-two week low of $22.65 and a fifty-two week high of $30.69. The company has a fifty day moving average of $28.23 and a two-hundred day moving average of $27.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.08 and a beta of 1.35.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, research analysts expect that News will post 0.94 earnings per share for the current year.

News Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th. News’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.40%.

About News

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.