Alberta Investment Management Corp Makes New $9.64 Million Investment in News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA)

Alberta Investment Management Corp bought a new position in shares of News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 350,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,639,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of NWSA. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in News during the third quarter worth $39,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in News during the fourth quarter worth $49,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in News during the third quarter worth $85,000. Principal Securities Inc. increased its position in News by 18.5% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 3,334 shares of the company’s stock worth $92,000 after buying an additional 521 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its position in shares of News by 1,419.6% in the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 5,045 shares of the company’s stock valued at $134,000 after purchasing an additional 4,713 shares during the last quarter. 66.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on NWSA. UBS Group raised News from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Loop Capital dropped their target price on shares of News from $44.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. StockNews.com raised shares of News from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of News to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Citigroup started coverage on shares of News in a report on Friday, January 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $36.00 price objective on the stock. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $39.25.

News Stock Performance

NASDAQ:NWSA opened at $30.49 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. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $28.23 and its 200-day moving average is $27.73. News Co. has a 52-week low of $22.65 and a 52-week high of $30.69. The company has a market cap of $17.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.77 and a beta of 1.35.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.04. News had a net margin of 4.22% and a return on equity of 5.31%. Equities research analysts anticipate that News Co. 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. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.31%. News’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.