News (NASDAQ:NWSA) Hits New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWSA)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $31.66 and last traded at $31.2040, with a volume of 3827303 shares. The stock had previously closed at $30.96.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on NWSA. Zacks Research cut shares of News from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of News from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on News from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 21st. Wall Street Zen raised News from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of News from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $38.50.

News Stock Down 0.7%

The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The firm has a market cap of $16.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.07 and a beta of 0.88. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $27.92 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $26.10.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $2.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.25 billion. News had a net margin of 6.35% and a return on equity of 7.09%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.19 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that News Corporation will post 1.31 EPS for the current year.

News Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 9th will be issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 9th. This represents a yield of 68.0%. News’s payout ratio is currently 19.42%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On News

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC acquired a new stake in shares of News during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in shares of News during the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new position in News in the third quarter valued at about $35,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. boosted its stake in shares of News by 154.5% in the 3rd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 1,285 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 780 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of News by 561.1% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,732 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 1,470 shares during the last quarter. 66.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.