News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWSA) Stock Has Average Price Target of $38.50

Key Points

• Analysts maintain a favorable view of News Corp: five of six analysts recommend buying the stock, producing a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average 12-month price target of $38.50 versus its $29.38 opening price.
• Institutional investors own approximately 66.97% of NWSA, with several firms recently increasing their holdings or initiating new positions.
• News Corp exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.35 in EPS versus the $0.21 consensus and $2.34 billion in revenue, up 10.8% year over year; it also paid a $0.10-per-share dividend.

Shares of News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWSA - Get Free Report) have earned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the six ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $38.50.

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on NWSA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of News from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 21st. Zacks Research lowered shares of News from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $35.00 price target on shares of News in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of News from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of News from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, October 3rd.

Institutional Trading of News

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of News by 282.7% during the second quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,032 shares of the company's stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 1,501 shares during the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC raised its stake in News by 96.2% during the 1st quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 2,188 shares of the company's stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 1,073 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc raised its stake in News by 79.0% during the 2nd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 3,682 shares of the company's stock valued at $91,000 after acquiring an additional 1,625 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in News by 26.5% during the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,299 shares of the company's stock worth $207,000 after acquiring an additional 1,739 shares during the period. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in News during the 1st quarter worth approximately $212,000. 66.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

News Stock Performance

Shares of NWSA opened at $29.38 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $15.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.52 and a beta of 0.97. News has a 52-week low of $22.20 and a 52-week high of $31.66. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $29.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $27.38.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $2.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.25 billion. News had a net margin of 6.35% and a return on equity of 7.09%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.19 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that News will post 1.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

News Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 9th were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 9th. This represents a dividend yield of 68.0%. News's payout ratio is 19.42%.

About News

News Corp NASDAQ: NWSA is a global media and information-services company that creates and distributes news, business information, books, digital content and real estate services. Its operations serve consumers, professionals, institutions and businesses across the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and other international markets.

The company's Dow Jones division provides business and financial news, data and information through publications and platforms including The Wall Street Journal, Barron's, MarketWatch, Factiva and Dow Jones Newswires.

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