Argus Lowers Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA) to Sell

Argus lowered shares of Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report issued on Friday morning, Marketbeat reports.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on PARA. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Paramount Global from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an underweight rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 27th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a neutral rating and issued a $13.00 target price on shares of Paramount Global in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Raymond James reissued a market perform rating on shares of Paramount Global in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Needham & Company LLC downgraded shares of Paramount Global from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Paramount Global from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Paramount Global has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $13.58.

Paramount Global Price Performance

Paramount Global stock traded up $0.40 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $13.29. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 23,289,162 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,319,889. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.86 billion, a P/E ratio of -89.06, a P/E/G ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 1.74. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $11.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $12.89. Paramount Global has a twelve month low of $10.12 and a twelve month high of $17.50.

Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.28. Paramount Global had a negative net margin of 0.15% and a positive return on equity of 3.35%. The business had revenue of $7.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.73 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.09 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Paramount Global will post 1.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Paramount Global Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 17th will be issued a $0.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 17th. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.50%. Paramount Global’s dividend payout ratio is currently -133.32%.

Institutional Trading of Paramount Global

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp raised its holdings in Paramount Global by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 99,705 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,174,000 after acquiring an additional 4,152 shares during the period. Wittenberg Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Paramount Global by 29.4% during the 1st quarter. Wittenberg Investment Management Inc. now owns 378,711 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,457,000 after purchasing an additional 86,000 shares during the last quarter. Carson Advisory Inc. boosted its stake in Paramount Global by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. Carson Advisory Inc. now owns 51,457 shares of the company’s stock valued at $606,000 after purchasing an additional 1,827 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP grew its holdings in Paramount Global by 48.6% in the 1st quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 153,803 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,810,000 after buying an additional 50,329 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Counselors Inc. increased its position in Paramount Global by 22.0% during the 1st quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 808,266 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,513,000 after buying an additional 145,773 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.00% of the company’s stock.

About Paramount Global

Paramount Global operates as a media, streaming, and entertainment company worldwide. It operates through TV Media, Direct-to-Consumer, and Filmed Entertainment segments. The TV Media segment operates CBS Television Network, a domestic broadcast television network; CBS Stations, a television station; and international free-to-air networks comprising Network 10, Channel 5, Telefe, and Chilevisión; domestic premium and basic cable networks, such as Paramount+ with Showtime, MTV, Comedy Central, Paramount Network, The Smithsonian Channel, Nickelodeon, BET Media Group, and CBS Sports Network; and international extensions of these brands.