News (NASDAQ:NWS) Raised to Strong-Buy at Zacks Research

News (NASDAQ:NWS) was upgraded by Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Separately, Weiss Ratings downgraded News from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy”.

News Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:NWS opened at $30.17 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $29.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $29.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.01 and a beta of 0.88. News has a one year low of $25.49 and a one year high of $35.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 1.59.

News (NASDAQ:NWS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.07. News had a net margin of 12.92% and a return on equity of 6.12%. The company had revenue of $2.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.12 billion. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that News will post 0.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of News

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. NewEdge Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of News in the second quarter worth about $30,000. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of News in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Arax Advisory Partners purchased a new stake in News during the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in News by 69.0% during the 4th quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,629 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 665 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in News by 74.5% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,056 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 878 shares during the period. 14.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

News Company Profile

News Corporation (NASDAQ: NWS) is a global media and information services company engaged in news and digital real estate, book publishing and other media businesses. The company’s operations include print and digital newsbrands, business and financial information services, consumer platforms for property listings, and a major book publishing arm. Through its subsidiaries and brands, News Corp produces news content, market and financial reporting, online real-estate marketplaces and trade and consumer publishing products.

Key areas of activity include news and information, where the company publishes national and regional newspapers and operates business information services; book publishing through a well-known global publisher; and property-related digital businesses that operate online marketplaces for real estate listings.