The Madison Square Garden Company (NYSE:MSGS) Given Average Recommendation of "Hold" by Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts broadly rate MSGS “Hold”: Five of nine covering brokerages recommend holding the stock, while four rate it a buy. The average 12-month price target is $471.20, above its reported $391.77 share price.
• Recent earnings exceeded expectations: Madison Square Garden reported quarterly EPS of $1.16 versus the $0.64 consensus estimate, while revenue rose 36.6% year over year to $278.75 million.
• Institutional ownership is substantial: Hedge funds and other institutions own 68.94% of the company, with several major investors increasing their positions.

Shares of The Madison Square Garden Company (NYSE:MSGS - Get Free Report) have earned a consensus rating of "Hold" from the nine brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $471.20.

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on shares of Madison Square Garden from $522.00 to $584.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 14th. Seaport Research Partners increased their target price on shares of Madison Square Garden from $430.00 to $435.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Madison Square Garden from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, August 23rd. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Madison Square Garden from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research report on Friday, August 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Madison Square Garden from $450.00 to $485.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 14th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Madison Square Garden

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MSGS. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of Madison Square Garden by 38,910.2% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 7,198,160 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,892,509,000 after purchasing an additional 7,179,708 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in Madison Square Garden by 67.7% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 699,378 shares of the company's stock worth $180,895,000 after buying an additional 282,318 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Madison Square Garden by 8.2% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 648,515 shares of the company's stock worth $167,739,000 after buying an additional 49,412 shares during the period. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL lifted its stake in Madison Square Garden by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 613,391 shares of the company's stock valued at $158,654,000 after buying an additional 6,873 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its stake in Madison Square Garden by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 538,404 shares of the company's stock valued at $139,258,000 after buying an additional 15,656 shares in the last quarter. 68.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Madison Square Garden Stock Performance

MSGS opened at $391.77 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $9.43 billion, a PE ratio of 1,305.94 and a beta of 0.60. The stock's fifty day moving average is $394.88 and its 200-day moving average is $362.49. Madison Square Garden has a one year low of $207.90 and a one year high of $438.93.

Madison Square Garden (NYSE:MSGS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 12th. The company reported $1.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.52. Madison Square Garden had a negative return on equity of 3.47% and a net margin of 0.67%.The firm had revenue of $278.75 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $227.67 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.07) earnings per share. Madison Square Garden's revenue was up 36.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Madison Square Garden will post -0.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Madison Square Garden

Madison Square Garden Sports Corp. is a professional sports and entertainment company headquartered in New York. The company owns and operates the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association and the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League. Through these franchises, it manages team operations, ticketing, sponsorships, media rights, merchandising and other commercial activities connected with professional sports.

Madison Square Garden Sports also owns the Hartford Wolf Pack, a minor-league hockey team affiliated with the Rangers, and has been involved in esports through Knicks Gaming, its NBA 2K League team.

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