Citigroup Cuts News (NASDAQ:NWSA) Price Target to $39.00

News (NASDAQ:NWSA) had its price target decreased by Citigroup from $40.00 to $39.00 in a research report report published on Monday,Benzinga reports. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the stock.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on NWSA. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of News from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of News from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. Guggenheim dropped their target price on shares of News from $45.00 to $43.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Morgan Stanley set a $32.40 price target on News in a report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded News from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $37.02.

News Stock Performance

NASDAQ:NWSA opened at $23.22 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.69 and a current ratio of 1.81. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $25.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $27.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.04 billion, a PE ratio of 11.44 and a beta of 0.99. News has a 52-week low of $22.20 and a 52-week high of $31.61.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.07. News had a return on equity of 5.94% and a net margin of 13.35%.The firm had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.30 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.33 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that News will post 0.94 EPS for the current year.

News Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 11th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 11th. This represents a dividend yield of 83.0%. News’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.85%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On News

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Foyston Gordon & Payne Inc purchased a new position in News during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $371,000. Inceptionr LLC grew its holdings in shares of News by 48.7% in the fourth quarter. Inceptionr LLC now owns 73,081 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,909,000 after purchasing an additional 23,926 shares in the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT increased its position in News by 1,516.2% in the fourth quarter. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT now owns 5,301 shares of the company’s stock worth $138,000 after purchasing an additional 4,973 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG raised its stake in News by 65.0% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 2,455,168 shares of the company’s stock valued at $64,129,000 after purchasing an additional 967,593 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Everett Harris & Co. CA lifted its position in News by 32.1% during the fourth quarter. Everett Harris & Co. CA now owns 11,710 shares of the company’s stock valued at $306,000 after purchasing an additional 2,845 shares during the last quarter. 66.97% of the stock is 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.