Graham (NYSE:GHC) Cut to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Graham (NYSE:GHC) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Saturday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

Separately, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Graham from a “buy (b+)” rating to a “buy (a-)” rating in a report on Friday, September 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has given a Buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Strong Buy”.

Graham Stock Performance

NYSE:GHC opened at $1,206.55 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $1,162.40 and a 200 day moving average of $1,137.13. The company has a market capitalization of $5.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.94 and a beta of 0.70. Graham has a 1-year low of $990.09 and a 1-year high of $1,262.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.86 and a quick ratio of 1.59.

Graham (NYSE:GHC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The company reported $18.77 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $18.36 by $0.41. Graham had a net margin of 10.69% and a return on equity of 5.73%. The business had revenue of $1.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.33 billion.

Graham Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.88 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 15th. This represents a $7.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. Graham’s dividend payout ratio is currently 6.61%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Graham

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GHC. Heritage Family Offices LLP purchased a new position in Graham during the 3rd quarter valued at about $176,000. Summit Wealth Group LLC Co. purchased a new stake in Graham in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $559,000. AMI Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Graham by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. AMI Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,626 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,980,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its position in shares of Graham by 6.7% in the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 239 shares of the company’s stock worth $271,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC grew its position in shares of Graham by 33.2% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 325 shares of the company’s stock worth $369,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. 93.16% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Graham Company Profile

Graham Holdings Company is a diversified American holding company formerly known as The Washington Post Company. The company changed its name in 2013 after the sale of the newspaper publishing business to Jeff Bezos. Today, Graham Holdings operates a portfolio of businesses across education, media, healthcare, automotive, manufacturing and other industries.

Its largest business is Kaplan, a provider of educational services, professional training and test preparation. Graham Holdings also owns Graham Media Group, which operates local television stations in several U.S.