News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWSA) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWSA) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $38.50.

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on NWSA. Weiss Ratings upgraded News from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Zacks Research lowered shares of News from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Citigroup lowered their price target on News from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $35.00 price objective on shares of News in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of News from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 21st.

News Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NWSA opened at $30.97 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 1.62. The stock has a market cap of $16.76 billion, a PE ratio of 30.07 and a beta of 0.88. News has a fifty-two week low of $22.20 and a fifty-two week high of $31.66. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $27.92 and a 200-day moving average of $26.10.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.14. News had a net margin of 6.35% and a return on equity of 7.09%. The firm had revenue of $2.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.25 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.19 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that News will post 1.31 earnings per share for the current year.

News Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 68.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 9th. News’s dividend payout ratio is 19.42%.

Institutional Trading of News

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of News by 16.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 31,356,593 shares of the company’s stock worth $965,673,000 after buying an additional 4,448,929 shares during the last quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP boosted its position in News by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 29,934,048 shares of the company’s stock valued at $781,877,000 after acquiring an additional 1,137,691 shares in the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its position in shares of News by 2,325.7% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 13,326,261 shares of the company’s stock valued at $330,891,000 after purchasing an additional 12,776,882 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in News by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,458,034 shares of the company’s stock worth $272,169,000 after purchasing an additional 88,157 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of News by 11.7% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 9,072,194 shares of the company’s stock worth $278,607,000 after acquiring an additional 947,687 shares in the last quarter. 66.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About News

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.