Graham Capital Management L.P. Buys New Stake in News Corporation $NWS

Key Points

• Graham Capital Management L.P. has invested $1.59 million in News Corporation, acquiring approximately 52,434 shares of the company's stock.
• News Corporation recently announced a semi-annual dividend of $0.10 per share, which will be paid on October 8th to shareholders of record as of September 10th.
• Analysts have rated News Corporation with an average rating of "Buy," although Zacks Research has given it a "strong sell" rating, reflecting mixed sentiment among investors.

Graham Capital Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWS - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 52,434 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,592,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. SVB Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of News in the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of News by 3,546.2% in the 1st quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 948 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 922 shares during the last quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of News by 75.3% in the 1st quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 964 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 414 shares during the last quarter. Mufg Securities Americas Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of News in the 4th quarter valued at about $50,000. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of News by 150.3% in the 1st quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,925 shares of the company's stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 1,156 shares during the last quarter. 14.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Zacks Research raised News to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, News has an average rating of "Buy".

News Stock Performance

NASDAQ NWS traded up $0.35 on Monday, hitting $33.75. 88,753 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 749,588. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.72. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $33.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $32.33. News Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $26.25 and a fifty-two week high of $35.58. The firm has a market cap of $19.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.22 and a beta of 1.18.

News (NASDAQ:NWS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.18 by $0.01. News had a return on equity of 5.66% and a net margin of 13.21%.The company had revenue of $2.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.09 billion. On average, research analysts expect that News Corporation will post 1.03 EPS for the current year.

News Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 10th will be issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 10th. This represents a dividend yield of 60.0%. News's dividend payout ratio 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.