News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA) Given Average Rating of “Buy” by Analysts

News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA) has earned a consensus rating of “Buy” from the six ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $39.25.

Several analysts have weighed in on NWSA shares. Loop Capital cut their target price on News from $44.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. UBS Group raised News from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com raised News from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Guggenheim lifted their target price on News from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Citigroup started coverage on News in a research note on Friday, January 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $36.00 target price on the stock.

News Price Performance

Shares of NWSA opened at $26.98 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $15.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.96 and a beta of 1.34. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $28.20 and a 200-day moving average of $27.80. The company has a current ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. News has a 52 week low of $22.65 and a 52 week high of $30.69.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.04. News had a return on equity of 5.31% and a net margin of 4.22%. As a group, analysts forecast that News will post 0.94 EPS for the current year.

News Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.48%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th. News’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.40%.

Institutional Trading of News

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of News by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 50,952,317 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,403,227,000 after buying an additional 632,721 shares in the last quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP raised its position in shares of News by 11.8% during the fourth quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 26,617,259 shares of the company’s stock worth $733,039,000 after purchasing an additional 2,812,080 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of News by 6.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 25,799,596 shares of the company’s stock worth $689,397,000 after purchasing an additional 1,476,224 shares during the period. Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of News by 124.0% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 14,713,823 shares of the company’s stock worth $391,832,000 after purchasing an additional 8,144,856 shares during the period. Finally, Dodge & Cox raised its position in shares of News by 12.0% during the fourth quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 11,662,685 shares of the company’s stock worth $321,190,000 after purchasing an additional 1,245,278 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 66.97% of the company’s stock.

About News

News Corporation, a media and information services company, creates and distributes authoritative and engaging content, and other products and services for consumers and businesses worldwide. It operates through six segments: Digital Real Estate Services, Subscription Video Services, Dow Jones, Book Publishing, News Media, and Other.