News (NASDAQ:NWSA) Upgraded at UBS Group

UBS Group upgraded shares of News (NASDAQ:NWSA) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of News in a research note on Friday, January 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $36.00 price target on the stock. Loop Capital decreased their target price on News from $44.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Guggenheim raised their price target on shares of News from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. StockNews.com lowered shares of News from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, February 2nd. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of News to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, News presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $39.25.

News Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ NWSA opened at $28.50 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $28.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $27.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.38. The firm has a market cap of $16.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.97 and a beta of 1.35. News has a 1 year low of $22.65 and a 1 year high of $30.03.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.04. News had a return on equity of 4.76% and a net margin of 3.49%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that News will post 0.91 earnings per share for the current year.

News Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.40%. News’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.40%.

Institutional Trading of News

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Qsemble Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in News during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $990,000. Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of News by 124.0% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 14,713,823 shares of the company’s stock worth $391,832,000 after buying an additional 8,144,856 shares during the last quarter. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. raised its holdings in News by 313.6% in the third quarter. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. now owns 35,145 shares of the company’s stock valued at $936,000 after acquiring an additional 26,648 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in News by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,337,650 shares of the company’s stock valued at $115,512,000 after acquiring an additional 53,550 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its holdings in News by 26.4% during the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 180,283 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,801,000 after acquiring an additional 37,702 shares in the last quarter. 66.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.