News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWSA) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Buy” by Brokerages

News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWSA) has received a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the seven ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $37.14.

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on NWSA shares. Weiss Ratings raised News from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $34.00 price objective on shares of News in a report on Sunday, May 10th. Citigroup decreased their target price on News from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Zacks Research raised News from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded News from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On News

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of News in the fourth quarter valued at about $188,788,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of News by 488.0% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 8,124,507 shares of the company’s stock worth $241,054,000 after purchasing an additional 6,742,836 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can raised its position in shares of News by 2,348.9% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 5,664,644 shares of the company’s stock worth $147,961,000 after purchasing an additional 5,433,332 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in News by 16.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 31,356,593 shares of the company’s stock valued at $965,673,000 after buying an additional 4,448,929 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in News by 46.6% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 7,706,339 shares of the company’s stock valued at $236,662,000 after buying an additional 2,449,552 shares during the last quarter. 66.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

News Stock Up 2.3%

NWSA stock opened at $28.82 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $15.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.34 and a beta of 0.89. News has a 52 week low of $22.20 and a 52 week high of $31.61. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $26.58 and its 200 day moving average price is $25.60. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.16 by $0.05. News had a net margin of 12.92% and a return on equity of 6.12%. The company had revenue of $2.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.11 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.17 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that News will post 0.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.