News (NASDAQ:NWSA) Stock Rating Upgraded by Zacks Research

News (NASDAQ:NWSA) was upgraded by Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report issued on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of News from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $34.00 price target on shares of News in a research report on Sunday, May 10th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of News from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised News from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $37.14.

News Stock Down 0.4%

NWSA stock opened at $27.37 on Thursday. 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 capitalization of $14.98 billion, a PE ratio of 13.62 and a beta of 0.89. News has a twelve month low of $22.20 and a twelve month high of $31.61. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $26.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $25.47.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.16 by $0.05. News had a net margin of 12.92% and a return on equity of 6.12%. The firm had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.11 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.17 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that News will post 0.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On News

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. increased its holdings in shares of News by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. now owns 11,521 shares of the company’s stock worth $301,000 after buying an additional 496 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of News by 23.2% during the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,648 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 498 shares in the last quarter. Compound Planning Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of News by 5.0% during the 1st quarter. Compound Planning Inc. now owns 11,184 shares of the company’s stock worth $279,000 after acquiring an additional 537 shares during the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. grew its position in News by 5.9% in the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 10,139 shares of the company’s stock worth $311,000 after acquiring an additional 563 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its position in News by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 151,100 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,947,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. 66.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.