Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. Acquires New Position in News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA)

Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 34,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $945,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of News by 2,392.9% during the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,047 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 1,005 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in shares of News during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $39,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in News in the 4th quarter worth approximately $49,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in News by 49.7% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,989 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 660 shares during the period. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in News in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $85,000. 66.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on NWSA shares. UBS Group upgraded News from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Citigroup started coverage on News in a research note on Friday, January 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $36.00 price target for the company. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded News to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com upgraded News from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Guggenheim increased their target price on News from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, News currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $39.25.

News Stock Performance

NASDAQ:NWSA opened at $27.04 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $28.17 and its 200 day moving average is $27.76. News Co. has a fifty-two week low of $22.65 and a fifty-two week high of $30.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.34 billion, a PE ratio of 37.04 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a current ratio of 1.73.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.04. News had a return on equity of 5.31% and a net margin of 4.22%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that News Co. will post 0.94 earnings per share for the current year.

News Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.48%. News’s payout ratio is presently 27.40%.

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.