Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC Purchases 36,160 Shares of News Corporation $NWS

Key Points

• Baker Ellis Asset Management acquired 36,160 shares of News Corporation in the third quarter, valued at approximately $1.15 million. Institutional investors collectively own 14.63% of the company.
• News shares recently traded at $32.45, within a 12-month range of $25.49 to $35.76. The company’s latest quarterly results exceeded expectations, with EPS of $0.35 versus the $0.24 consensus estimate.
• Analyst sentiment remains favorable overall, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”, although Zacks Research downgraded the stock from “strong buy” to “hold.” News also paid a $0.10-per-share dividend.

Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWS - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 36,160 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,147,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in News by 102.7% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 844,576 shares of the company's stock worth $24,079,000 after purchasing an additional 427,841 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its holdings in shares of News by 128.0% during the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 681,468 shares of the company's stock worth $19,429,000 after acquiring an additional 382,644 shares during the period. Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new stake in News in the 1st quarter valued at $5,408,000. Metropolis Capital Ltd boosted its stake in News by 18.7% in the 1st quarter. Metropolis Capital Ltd now owns 1,035,141 shares of the company's stock worth $29,512,000 after purchasing an additional 163,356 shares during the period. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC bought a new stake in shares of News in the second quarter valued at about $4,449,000. Institutional investors own 14.63% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on NWS shares. Zacks Research cut shares of News from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, October 5th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of News in a report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy".

News Price Performance

Shares of News stock traded down $0.13 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $32.45. 671,301 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,407,019. News Corporation has a 12 month low of $25.49 and a 12 month high of $35.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 1.62. The stock has a market cap of $17.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.50 and a beta of 0.96. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $33.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $31.08.

News (NASDAQ:NWS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $2.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.25 billion. News had a return on equity of 7.09% and a net margin of 6.35%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that News Corporation will post 1.31 earnings per share for the current year.

News Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 9th were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a yield of 60.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 9th. News's dividend payout ratio is currently 19.42%.

News Company Profile

News Corp NASDAQ: NWS is a global diversified media and information services company headquartered in New York. Its businesses produce and distribute news, financial information, books, digital content and real estate listings across multiple platforms and geographies.

The company's principal operations include Dow Jones, which provides business news, financial data and professional information services through publications such as The Wall Street Journal and Barron's; News Corp Australia and News UK, which operate newspapers, digital news properties and other media brands; and HarperCollins Publishers, a global publisher of books in a broad range of categories.

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