Madison Square Garden (NYSE:MSGS) Sets New 12-Month High - What's Next?

Key Points

• Madison Square Garden (MSGS) reached a new 52-week high of $345.50 on Friday, last trading around $340.72.
• Wall Street is mixed: the consensus rating is Hold with an average price target of $333.80, though firms like Guggenheim and JPMorgan recently raised targets to $401 and $305 respectively (3 Buys, 6 Holds).
• MSGS missed quarterly EPS at $0.34 versus a $0.66 estimate but posted revenue of $403.4M (up 12.7% YoY) that beat expectations; analysts project -0.34 EPS for the current year.

The Madison Square Garden Company (NYSE:MSGS - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high on Friday . The stock traded as high as $345.50 and last traded at $340.7230, with a volume of 214068 shares. The stock had previously closed at $342.46.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on MSGS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Madison Square Garden from $240.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on shares of Madison Square Garden from $355.00 to $401.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Madison Square Garden from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, February 14th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Madison Square Garden from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Citigroup cut shares of Madison Square Garden from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $337.00 to $355.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $333.80.

Madison Square Garden Trading Down 0.5%

The firm's fifty day moving average price is $322.96 and its 200 day moving average price is $274.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.20 billion, a PE ratio of -493.80 and a beta of 0.59.

Madison Square Garden (NYSE:MSGS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.66 by ($0.32). The firm had revenue of $403.42 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $394.58 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.05 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that The Madison Square Garden Company will post -0.34 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Madison Square Garden

In other news, Director Charles P. Dolan sold 5,659 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $325.26, for a total transaction of $1,840,646.34. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 435 shares in the company, valued at $141,488.10. The trade was a 92.86% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 19.07% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Madison Square Garden

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Madison Square Garden by 11.8% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 117,905 shares of the company's stock valued at $26,764,000 after purchasing an additional 12,412 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Madison Square Garden by 30.6% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 15,776 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,581,000 after purchasing an additional 3,700 shares during the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Madison Square Garden by 294.7% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 39,718 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,016,000 after purchasing an additional 29,656 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Madison Square Garden in the 3rd quarter valued at $2,052,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Madison Square Garden by 65,330.8% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 8,506 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,931,000 after purchasing an additional 8,493 shares during the last quarter. 68.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Madison Square Garden

Madison Square Garden Sports Corp NYSE: MSGS is a leading sports and entertainment holding company focused on professional sports franchises and related media assets. The company owns and operates teams such as the NBA's New York Knicks, the NHL's New York Rangers and the WNBA's New York Liberty. Through these flagship franchises, MSG Sports offers a range of products and services including ticketing, premium seating and sponsorship opportunities, targeting fans in the New York metropolitan area and beyond.

In addition to team operations, Madison Square Garden Sports Corp holds a majority stake in MSG Networks, a regional cable network that broadcasts live sporting events, news and original programming.

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