Sciencast Management LP Takes $3.02 Million Position in News Corporation $NWSA

Key Points

• Sciencast Management LP has acquired a new position in News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWSA), purchasing 111,033 shares valued at approximately $3,022,000 during the first quarter.
• Analysts have mixed ratings on the stock, with JPMorgan Chase & Co. raising the price target to $40.00 and a majority giving it a "Buy" rating with an average target price of $38.62.
• News Corporation declared a dividend of $0.10 per share, representing a substantial 70.0% yield, which will be paid on October 8th to stockholders of record on September 10th.

Sciencast Management LP acquired a new stake in News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWSA - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 111,033 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,022,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Sentry Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of News in the 1st quarter valued at about $36,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd boosted its stake in shares of News by 12,084.6% in the 1st quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,584 shares of the company's stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 1,571 shares during the period. SVB Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of News in the 1st quarter valued at about $73,000. CX Institutional purchased a new position in shares of News in the 1st quarter valued at about $76,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of News by 714.9% in the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 4,433 shares of the company's stock valued at $121,000 after buying an additional 3,889 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.97% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NWSA has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wall Street Zen cut News from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Macquarie reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $32.70 target price on shares of News in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and set a $45.00 target price on shares of News in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on News from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $38.62.

News Stock Performance

NWSA traded down $0.65 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $28.77. 4,806,200 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,420,590. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.83 and a beta of 1.18. News Corporation has a 1-year low of $23.38 and a 1-year high of $30.75. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $29.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $28.16. 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 (NASDAQ:NWSA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.19 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.19. 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%.The firm's revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.17 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that News Corporation will post 0.94 earnings per share for the current year.

News Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a half year 25 dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 10th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 10th. This represents a yield of 70.0%. News's payout ratio is 9.62%.

About News

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.