Royal Bank of Canada Lowers Position in The New York Times Company $NYT

Key Points

• Royal Bank of Canada reduced its stake in The New York Times Company by 19.6%, selling 61,971 shares to own approximately 0.16% of the company, valued at $12.6 million.
• Several institutional investors increased their holdings in New York Times Company, with Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. boosting its position by 65.2%, highlighting strong investor interest in the stock.
• The New York Times reported $0.58 earnings per share for its last quarter, surpassing expectations, and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.18 per share, yielding 1.3%.

Royal Bank of Canada cut its stake in The New York Times Company (NYSE:NYT - Free Report) by 19.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 254,014 shares of the company's stock after selling 61,971 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada owned approximately 0.16% of New York Times worth $12,598,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in NYT. Allianz Asset Management GmbH boosted its holdings in New York Times by 210.7% during the first quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 1,609,513 shares of the company's stock worth $79,832,000 after buying an additional 1,091,430 shares in the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its position in shares of New York Times by 210.5% in the fourth quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 1,382,695 shares of the company's stock worth $71,969,000 after acquiring an additional 937,354 shares during the period. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of New York Times by 65.2% during the 1st quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. now owns 2,325,224 shares of the company's stock worth $115,331,000 after acquiring an additional 917,766 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in shares of New York Times by 133.6% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,559,837 shares of the company's stock valued at $81,190,000 after acquiring an additional 892,155 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of New York Times in the 1st quarter valued at about $37,500,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.37% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at New York Times

In other New York Times news, EVP William Bardeen sold 5,000 shares of New York Times stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.04, for a total transaction of $290,200.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 11,243 shares of the company's stock, valued at $652,543.72. The trade was a 30.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jacqueline M. Welch sold 5,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.04, for a total transaction of $330,220.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 14,470 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $868,778.80. This trade represents a 27.54% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on NYT. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on New York Times from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Barclays set a $52.00 price target on shares of New York Times and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Zacks Research lowered shares of New York Times from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, September 8th. Guggenheim increased their price objective on shares of New York Times from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating on shares of New York Times in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, New York Times presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $60.33.

New York Times Trading Up 0.6%

NYT stock traded up $0.37 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $58.91. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,372,577 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,357,095. The company's 50 day moving average is $56.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $53.64. The New York Times Company has a fifty-two week low of $44.83 and a fifty-two week high of $62.24. The stock has a market cap of $9.59 billion, a PE ratio of 30.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.16.

New York Times (NYSE:NYT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.08. New York Times had a return on equity of 19.55% and a net margin of 11.92%.The business had revenue of $685.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $670.22 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.45 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that The New York Times Company will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

New York Times Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 24th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 9th were paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 9th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. New York Times's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.11%.

About New York Times

The New York Times Company, together with its subsidiaries, creates, collects, and distributes news and information worldwide. The company operates through two segments, The New York Times Group and The Athletic. It offers The New York Times (The Times) through company's mobile application, website, printed newspaper, and associated content, such as podcast.