Aberdeen Group plc Boosts Holdings in News Corporation $NWSA

Key Points

• Aberdeen Group plc increased its stake in News Corporation by 101.1% during the first quarter, owning approximately 318,483 shares worth about $8.55 million.
• News Corporation reported $0.19 earnings per share for the last quarter, meeting expectations, with a revenue of $2.11 billion.
• The company announced a half-year dividend of $0.10 per share, with a payout ratio of 9.62%, slated for payment on October 8th.

Aberdeen Group plc grew its holdings in shares of News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWSA - Free Report) by 101.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 318,483 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 160,122 shares during the quarter. Aberdeen Group plc owned about 0.06% of News worth $8,546,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Optiver Holding B.V. bought a new position in News during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Sentry Investment Management LLC bought a new position in News during the first quarter worth about $36,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd boosted its position in News by 12,084.6% during the first quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,584 shares of the company's stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 1,571 shares during the period. CX Institutional bought a new position in News during the first quarter worth about $76,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in News by 714.9% during the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 4,433 shares of the company's stock worth $121,000 after purchasing an additional 3,889 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 66.97% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of News from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $45.00 price target on shares of News in a report on Thursday, May 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of News from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Macquarie reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $32.70 price target on shares of News in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, News presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $38.62.

News Price Performance

NWSA traded up $0.76 on Friday, reaching $30.50. The company had a trading volume of 2,448,423 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,489,963. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $29.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $28.15. The company has a market cap of $17.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.66 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.72 and a current ratio of 1.84. News Corporation has a 52-week low of $23.38 and a 52-week high of $30.75.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.19 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.19. The business had revenue of $2.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.09 billion. News had a net margin of 13.21% and a return on equity of 5.66%. News's quarterly revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.17 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that News Corporation will post 0.94 EPS for the current year.

News Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a half year 25 dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 10th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a yield of 70.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 10th. News's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.62%.

News Company Profile

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.