News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWSA) Receives Average Rating of "Buy" from Brokerages

Shares of News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWSA - Get Free Report) have been given an average recommendation of "Buy" by the seven ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $39.20.

NWSA has been the topic of several research reports. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of News from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of News from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $45.00 price target on shares of News in a report on Thursday, May 15th.

News Price Performance

NWSA stock opened at $29.25 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. News has a 12 month low of $23.38 and a 12 month high of $30.69. The firm has a market cap of $16.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.01 and a beta of 1.23. The company's 50-day moving average price is $27.69 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $27.71.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.19 by ($0.02). News had a net margin of 5.18% and a return on equity of 5.64%. The firm had revenue of $2.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.13 earnings per share. News's quarterly revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that News will post 0.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On News

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in News by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 51,764,497 shares of the company's stock worth $1,409,030,000 after buying an additional 812,180 shares during the period. Independent Franchise Partners LLP boosted its position in News by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 27,189,590 shares of the company's stock worth $740,101,000 after buying an additional 572,331 shares during the period. Dodge & Cox boosted its position in News by 18.7% during the 1st quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 13,846,298 shares of the company's stock worth $376,896,000 after buying an additional 2,183,613 shares during the period. 59 North Capital Management LP boosted its position in News by 24.4% during the 1st quarter. 59 North Capital Management LP now owns 11,147,654 shares of the company's stock worth $303,439,000 after buying an additional 2,185,542 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of News by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,857,139 shares of the company's stock worth $270,798,000 after purchasing an additional 234,893 shares during the period. 66.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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