News Corporation Announces Semi-annual Dividend of $0.10 (NASDAQ:NWS)

Key Points

• News Corporation announced a semi-annual dividend of $0.10 per share, with the dividend payable on October 8th to shareholders of record as of September 10th.
• The company's current dividend payout ratio is 19.2%, indicating that earnings sufficiently cover the dividend, with an expected future payout ratio of 20.6% based on projected earnings of $0.97 per share.
• In its last earnings report, News Corporation reported $0.19 earnings per share, exceeding analysts' expectations, alongside revenue of $2.11 billion, which also surpassed projections.

News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWS - Get Free Report) declared a semi-annual dividend on Wednesday, August 6th, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 10th will be paid a dividend of 0.10 per share on Wednesday, October 8th. This represents a yield of 60.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 10th.

News has a payout ratio of 19.2% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect News to earn $0.97 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.20 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 20.6%.

News Stock Performance

News stock traded down $0.59 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $32.95. 832,168 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 733,379. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.84 and a beta of 1.23. The business has a 50 day moving average of $33.35 and a two-hundred day moving average of $32.22. News has a 12 month low of $26.25 and a 12 month high of $35.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.72.

News (NASDAQ:NWS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.18 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $2.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.09 billion. News had a net margin of 13.21% and a return on equity of 5.66%. As a group, research analysts predict that News will post 1.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Independent Franchise Partners LLP raised its position in News by 0.8% in the first quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 9,728,572 shares of the company's stock worth $295,457,000 after acquiring an additional 78,855 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of News by 5.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,879,273 shares of the company's stock worth $208,924,000 after purchasing an additional 344,036 shares in the last quarter. 59 North Capital Management LP increased its stake in shares of News by 29.4% in the fourth quarter. 59 North Capital Management LP now owns 4,345,606 shares of the company's stock worth $132,237,000 after purchasing an additional 986,781 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of News by 8.9% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,965,125 shares of the company's stock worth $59,799,000 after purchasing an additional 160,922 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of News by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 939,188 shares of the company's stock worth $28,579,000 after purchasing an additional 10,716 shares in the last quarter. 14.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

News Company Profile

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.