Gabelli Funds LLC Decreases Stake in News Corporation $NWS

Key Points

• Gabelli Funds LLC reduced its shareholding in News Corporation by 9.7%, now holding 93,000 shares worth approximately $2.82 million.
• The company reported earnings of $0.19 per share for the latest quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, with a revenue of $2.11 billion.
• News Corporation announced a semi-annual dividend of $0.10 per share, with a dividend yield of 60.0%, to be paid on October 8th.

Gabelli Funds LLC lowered its stake in News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWS - Free Report) by 9.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 93,000 shares of the company's stock after selling 10,000 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC's holdings in News were worth $2,824,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of News by 75.3% in the first quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 964 shares of the company's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 414 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its holdings in shares of News by 9.6% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,837 shares of the company's stock worth $147,000 after purchasing an additional 425 shares during the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of News by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 29,660 shares of the company's stock worth $903,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of News by 20.3% during the first quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 3,210 shares of the company's stock worth $97,000 after purchasing an additional 542 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital raised its holdings in shares of News by 7.7% during the first quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 8,578 shares of the company's stock worth $259,000 after purchasing an additional 615 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 14.63% of the company's stock.

News Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NWS traded down $0.50 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $32.72. The stock had a trading volume of 1,029,374 shares, compared to its average volume of 753,050. The company has a quick ratio of 1.72, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. News Corporation has a 1 year low of $26.25 and a 1 year high of $35.58. The company has a market capitalization of $18.48 billion, a PE ratio of 15.73 and a beta of 1.18. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $33.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $32.37.

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

News Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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. This represents a dividend yield of 60.0%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 10th. News's payout ratio is currently 9.62%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Zacks Research upgraded shares of News to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy".

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.