News (NASDAQ:NWSA) Upgraded to "Strong-Buy" at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded News Corp (NASDAQ: NWSA) from “buy” to “strong-buy.” Overall, analysts have a “Moderate Buy” consensus, with six Buy ratings and one Hold rating and an average price target of $37.80.
• News Corp beat quarterly earnings expectations, reporting EPS of $0.28 versus $0.26 forecast and revenue of $2.28 billion versus $2.27 billion expected. Revenue rose 6.4% year over year.
• The stock opened at $26.39, within its 12-month range of $22.20 to $31.66; institutional investors and hedge funds own about 67% of shares.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA - Get Free Report) was upgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of News from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 21st. Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on News in a research note on Monday, October 19th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $35.00 price objective for the company. Zacks Research cut News from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $35.00 price target on shares of News in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of News from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research note on Monday, October 12th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, News has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $37.80.

News Price Performance

Shares of News stock opened at $26.39 on Friday. News has a 12 month low of $22.20 and a 12 month high of $31.66. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $29.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $26.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.56 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.51.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 4th. The company reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $2.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.27 billion. News had a return on equity of 7.09% and a net margin of 6.35%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.22 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that News will post 1.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of News by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,245,597 shares of the company's stock worth $105,842,000 after buying an additional 94,368 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in News by 80.9% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 4,069,041 shares of the company's stock valued at $101,441,000 after purchasing an additional 1,819,652 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. bought a new position in shares of News during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $79,840,000. Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in News by 120.6% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 2,326,616 shares of the company's stock valued at $58,002,000 after buying an additional 1,272,083 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its stake in News by 174.3% in the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 1,911,329 shares of the company's stock valued at $47,649,000 after buying an additional 1,214,648 shares during the period. 66.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

News Company Profile

News Corp is a global media and information-services company whose Class A common stock trades on the Nasdaq under the symbol NWSA. The company operates a portfolio of businesses spanning digital and print publishing, subscription products, professional information, real estate services and book publishing.

Its principal businesses include Dow Jones, which provides financial news, data, research and professional information through publications such as The Wall Street Journal and Barron's; News Corp Australia and News UK, which operate newspapers and digital news platforms; and HarperCollins Publishers, which publishes fiction, nonfiction, educational and religious titles.

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