News (NASDAQ:NWSA) Raised to “Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of News (NASDAQ:NWSA) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Monday morning.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of News to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group raised shares of News from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Loop Capital cut their price target on shares of News from $44.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of News in a research report on Friday, January 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $36.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Guggenheim increased their price objective on shares of News from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, News currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $39.25.

News Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:NWSA opened at $29.36 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $28.15 and a 200-day moving average of $27.63. The company has a market capitalization of $16.70 billion, a PE ratio of 40.22 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.73. News has a 52-week low of $22.65 and a 52-week high of $30.03.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share 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%. On average, equities analysts predict that News will post 0.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

News Announces Dividend

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 given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.36%. News’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.40%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On News

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position in News by 2,392.9% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,047 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 1,005 shares in the last quarter. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new position in News in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in News in the 3rd quarter valued at about $39,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in News in the 4th quarter valued at about $49,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in News by 49.7% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,989 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 660 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 66.97% of the company’s stock.

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.