News Corporation Declares Half year 25 Dividend of $0.10 (NASDAQ:NWSA)

Key Points

• News Corporation announced a half-year dividend of $0.10 per share, payable on October 8th to shareholders of record as of September 10th.
• The company has a dividend payout ratio of 19.6%, indicating that it is well-positioned to sustain its dividend amidst projected earnings of $1.12 per share next year.
• Analysts have mixed views on the stock, with a consensus price target of $39.20 and ratings ranging from "buy" to "hold".

News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWSA - Get Free Report) announced a half year 25 dividend on Tuesday, August 5th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 10th will be paid a dividend of 0.10 per share on Wednesday, October 8th. This represents a dividend yield of 70.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 10th.

News has a dividend payout ratio of 19.6% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect News to earn $1.12 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 17.9%.

News Stock Down 1.6%

Shares of NWSA stock traded down $0.45 on Friday, hitting $28.52. The stock had a trading volume of 3,740,108 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,004,550. The business has a 50 day moving average of $28.97 and a 200 day moving average of $28.06. The stock has a market cap of $16.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.71 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.60. News has a 12-month low of $23.38 and a 12-month high of $30.75.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.19. News had a net margin of 13.21% and a return on equity of 5.66%. The business had revenue of $2.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.09 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.17 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that News will post 0.94 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on NWSA. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and set a $45.00 price objective on shares of News in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Macquarie restated a "neutral" rating and set a $32.70 price objective on shares of News in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of News from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of News from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, News has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $38.12.

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.