USA Today (NYSE:TDAY) Hits New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

USA Today Co. (NYSE:TDAY) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $8.92 and last traded at $8.84, with a volume of 402557 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $8.63.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TDAY has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of USA Today from a “hold (c)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Citigroup reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of USA Today in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $10.00 price target on shares of USA Today in a report on Thursday, June 4th. New Street Research set a $8.05 price objective on USA Today in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut USA Today from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, USA Today currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $9.03.

USA Today Stock Performance

The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $8.17 and a 200-day simple moving average of $7.11. The stock has a market cap of $1.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 149.52 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.33, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 0.79.

USA Today (NYSE:TDAY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.08) by $0.17. The company had revenue of $548.49 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $562.00 million. USA Today had a return on equity of 21.75% and a net margin of 1.27%.USA Today’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.0 compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.05) earnings per share.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On USA Today

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Shah Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of USA Today during the 4th quarter worth approximately $9,270,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of USA Today by 111.0% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 928,100 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,833,000 after buying an additional 488,229 shares during the last quarter. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new stake in shares of USA Today during the first quarter worth approximately $596,000. P Schoenfeld Asset Management LP acquired a new position in shares of USA Today in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,060,000. Finally, UBS Group AG bought a new position in shares of USA Today during the fourth quarter worth approximately $4,262,000. 76.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

USA Today Company Profile

Gannett Co, Inc (NYSE: GCI) is a media and marketing solutions company headquartered in McLean, Virginia. As the largest U.S. newspaper publisher by circulation, Gannett publishes USA Today alongside more than 260 local news brands. The company’s multimedia platforms include daily and weekly newspapers, websites, mobile apps and a network of subscription-based digital products.

In addition to journalism and content production, Gannett offers a suite of digital marketing services designed to help small and medium-sized businesses grow online.