The New York Times Company (NYSE:NYT) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

The New York Times Company (NYSE:NYT) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,250,000 shares, a decrease of 16.8% from the March 31st total of 5,110,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,250,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.4 days. Currently, 2.7% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

New York Times Stock Up 1.4 %

New York Times stock traded up $0.62 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $43.79. The stock had a trading volume of 257,161 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,253,968. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.43 and a beta of 1.01. New York Times has a 12-month low of $35.06 and a 12-month high of $49.87. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $43.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $44.77.

New York Times (NYSE:NYT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $676.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $680.02 million. New York Times had a net margin of 9.58% and a return on equity of 16.48%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.65 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that New York Times will post 1.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

New York Times Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 2nd were paid a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 1st. This is a positive change from New York Times’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.19%. New York Times’s payout ratio is currently 37.41%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Diane Brayton sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.84, for a total transaction of $299,880.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 39,312 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,684,126.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other New York Times news, Director David S. Perpich sold 3,014 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.03, for a total value of $132,706.42. Following the sale, the director now owns 20,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $916,396.39. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Diane Brayton sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.84, for a total transaction of $299,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 39,312 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,684,126.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 23,557 shares of company stock worth $1,029,968 in the last three months. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of New York Times

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in NYT. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in New York Times by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,809,453 shares of the company’s stock valued at $774,505,000 after buying an additional 80,075 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in New York Times by 15.7% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,997,420 shares of the company’s stock valued at $146,844,000 after buying an additional 406,958 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in New York Times during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $89,754,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in New York Times by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,800,927 shares of the company’s stock valued at $88,227,000 after buying an additional 31,213 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in New York Times by 3.2% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,478,661 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,921,000 after buying an additional 45,677 shares during the period. 95.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on NYT shares. Argus raised shares of New York Times from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $51.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 4th. StockNews.com raised shares of New York Times from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. Finally, Citigroup began coverage on shares of New York Times in a research report on Tuesday, March 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $52.00 price target for the company. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.67.

About New York Times

The New York Times Company, together with its subsidiaries, creates, collects, and distributes news and information worldwide. The company operates through two segments, The New York Times Group and The Athletic. It offers The New York Times (The Times) through company's mobile application, website, printed newspaper, and associated content, such as podcast.