SG Americas Securities LLC Acquires 460,733 Shares of News Corporation $NWSA

Key Points

• SG Americas Securities LLC raised its News Corporation stake by 291.6%, purchasing an additional 460,733 shares to hold 618,724 shares (about 0.11% of the company) worth roughly $16.16 million at quarter-end.
• News Corp beat quarterly expectations with $0.40 EPS vs. $0.33 and $2.36 billion in revenue (up 5.5% year-over-year), and announced a $0.10 per-share dividend payable April 8 (ex-dividend March 11).
• Analyst sentiment is mixed but the consensus rating is a Moderate Buy with an average price target of $37.02 following several recent upgrades and downgrades.

SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWSA - Free Report) by 291.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 618,724 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 460,733 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC owned 0.11% of News worth $16,161,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position in shares of News by 5.5% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 37,556 shares of the company's stock worth $1,022,000 after buying an additional 1,950 shares during the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association acquired a new position in shares of News during the 1st quarter valued at about $206,000. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in shares of News in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $204,000. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its holdings in News by 44.4% in the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 16,618 shares of the company's stock worth $452,000 after purchasing an additional 5,106 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in News during the second quarter worth approximately $545,000. 66.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NWSA has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Zacks Research raised shares of News from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley set a $32.40 price objective on shares of News in a report on Friday, February 6th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of News from $40.00 to $39.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 9th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of News from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of News from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, March 23rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $37.02.

News Stock Down 0.1%

NWSA opened at $24.24 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $24.41 and a 200-day moving average of $26.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.94 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 1.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. News Corporation has a 1-year low of $22.20 and a 1-year high of $31.61.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.30 billion. News had a net margin of 13.35% and a return on equity of 5.94%. News's revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.33 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that News Corporation will post 0.94 earnings per share for the current year.

News Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 11th. This represents a dividend yield of 83.0%. News's payout ratio is presently 9.85%.

News Company Profile

News Corporation NASDAQ: NWSA is a global diversified media and information services company headquartered in New York City. It operates through two principal segments: News and Information Services, and Digital Real Estate Services. The company's news and information division oversees a portfolio of leading newspapers, magazines and digital platforms, offering content across print and online channels. Its properties include Dow Jones, publisher of The Wall Street Journal and Barron's, News UK titles such as The Times and The Sun, as well as News Corp Australia mastheads.

In addition to its journalism assets, News Corp is a significant player in book publishing through HarperCollins, one of the world's largest consumer publishers.

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