Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Raises Stake in News Corporation $NWSA

Key Points

• Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its stake in News Corporation by 4.7% in Q4 to 953,459 shares (adding 42,795 shares), worth about $24.9 million.
• Quarterly results beat expectations: News reported $0.40 EPS vs. $0.33 expected and $2.36 billion in revenue (up 5.5% year‑over‑year) with a 13.35% net margin.
• Shares trade around $25.79 with a market cap of $14.32 billion and a PE of 12.7; institutional investors own about 66.97% of the stock and analysts' consensus is a "Moderate Buy" with a $37.02 target.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWSA - Free Report) by 4.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 953,459 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 42,795 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned approximately 0.17% of News worth $24,904,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Permanent Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of News during the 3rd quarter worth $812,000. Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of News by 39.5% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 14,875,615 shares of the company's stock worth $456,830,000 after buying an additional 4,214,562 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of News by 22.9% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,770,946 shares of the company's stock worth $54,389,000 after buying an additional 330,513 shares in the last quarter. GenTrust LLC purchased a new stake in shares of News in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,549,000. Finally, CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of News in the 3rd quarter worth about $8,799,000. 66.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

News Stock Up 1.8%

NWSA opened at $25.79 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $24.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $25.54. The company has a market cap of $14.32 billion, a PE ratio of 12.70 and a beta of 0.91. News Corporation has a 1 year low of $22.20 and a 1 year high of $31.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.69 and a current ratio of 1.81.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA - Get Free Report) last posted 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 firm had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.30 billion. News had a net margin of 13.35% and a return on equity of 5.94%. The company's revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.33 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that News Corporation will post 0.94 earnings per share for the current year.

News Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 11th were given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a yield of 83.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 11th. News's dividend payout ratio is 9.85%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on NWSA shares. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of News from $40.00 to $39.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of News from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, April 4th. Morgan Stanley set a $32.40 price objective on shares of News in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of News from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of News from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $37.02.

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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