News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Buy” by Brokerages

News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the six research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $39.25.

NWSA has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup initiated coverage on News in a research note on Friday, January 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $36.00 price target for the company. Loop Capital decreased their price target on News from $44.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Seaport Res Ptn raised News to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com raised News from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their price objective on News from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd.

News Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NWSA opened at $26.98 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $28.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $27.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 1.65. News has a one year low of $22.65 and a one year high of $30.69. The company has a market capitalization of $15.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.96 and a beta of 1.34.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA) last issued its earnings results 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%. Analysts anticipate that News will post 0.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

News Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.48%. News’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.40%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On News

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ bought a new stake in shares of News in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,348,000. Asset Value Investors Ltd bought a new stake in shares of News in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $122,391,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in shares of News in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,460,000. Credit Industriel ET Commercial bought a new stake in News during the 4th quarter worth approximately $8,174,000. Finally, Forum Financial Management LP grew its position in News by 9.0% during the 4th quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 10,891 shares of the company’s stock worth $300,000 after acquiring an additional 903 shares during the last quarter. 66.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.