News (NASDAQ:NWS) Reaches New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

News Co. (NASDAQ:NWS)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $34.98 and last traded at $34.75, with a volume of 18001 shares. The stock had previously closed at $34.86.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of News to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st.

News Trading Down 5.8 %

The company has a quick ratio of 1.65, a current ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The company has a market cap of $18.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.12 and a beta of 1.38. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $31.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $30.04.

News (NASDAQ:NWS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.34 by ($0.01). News had a return on equity of 5.31% and a net margin of 4.22%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that News Co. will post 1.03 EPS for the current year.

News Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a yield of 0.6%. News’s payout ratio is currently 27.40%.

Institutional Trading of News

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its holdings in News by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 7,986 shares of the company’s stock worth $223,000 after acquiring an additional 348 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in News by 253.3% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,021 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 1,449 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in News by 101.0% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 496,926 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,889,000 after acquiring an additional 249,659 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in News by 28.5% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,790 shares of the company’s stock worth $237,000 after acquiring an additional 1,729 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of News by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 137,034 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,830,000 after buying an additional 2,609 shares during the period. 14.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.