News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWSA) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWSA) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seven brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a 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 $37.14.

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $34.00 price objective on shares of News in a research note on Sunday, May 10th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of News from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of News from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, 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.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On News

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of NWSA. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of News by 5.5% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 37,556 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,022,000 after purchasing an additional 1,950 shares during the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association purchased a new position in News during the 1st quarter worth $206,000. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new position in News during the 1st quarter valued at about $204,000. Focus Partners Wealth raised its stake in News by 44.4% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 16,618 shares of the company’s stock valued at $452,000 after buying an additional 5,106 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sivia Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in News in the second quarter valued at about $545,000. 66.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

News Price Performance

News stock opened at $26.64 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $26.13 and a two-hundred day moving average of $25.44. The company has a quick ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The firm has a market cap of $14.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.25 and a beta of 0.89. News has a twelve month low of $22.20 and a twelve month high of $31.61.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.16 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.11 billion. News had a return on equity of 6.12% and a net margin of 12.92%.The business’s revenue was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.17 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that News will post 0.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

News Company Profile

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.