News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWSA) Receives Consensus Rating of "Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• News Corporation's stock (NASDAQ:NWSA) has received a consensus rating of "Buy" from eight research firms, with an average twelve-month price target of $38.62.
• Following its most recent earnings report, the company reported earnings per share of $0.19 and a revenue of $2.11 billion, exceeding analyst estimates.
• News Corporation announced a $0.10 dividend per share, contributing to a dividend yield of 70%, with the payout scheduled for October 8th.

Shares of News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWSA - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average rating of "Buy" from the eight research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $38.6167.

Several research analysts have commented on NWSA shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on News from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. Macquarie reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $32.70 target price on shares of News in a report on Wednesday, August 6th.

News Trading Down 1.4%

NASDAQ NWSA opened at $28.55 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.73 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.72 and a current ratio of 1.84. News has a one year low of $23.38 and a one year high of $31.61. The company's 50 day moving average price is $29.61 and its 200 day moving average price is $28.41.

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

News Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a half year 25 dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 10th. This represents a dividend yield of 70.0%. News's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.62%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On News

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lifted its stake in shares of News by 0.3% in the second quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 126,293 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,753,000 after buying an additional 344 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in News by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 11,833 shares of the company's stock valued at $322,000 after acquiring an additional 398 shares in the last quarter. Horizon Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of News by 7.7% in the 1st quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 5,575 shares of the company's stock worth $152,000 after acquiring an additional 398 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank grew its holdings in shares of News by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 74,022 shares of the company's stock worth $2,200,000 after purchasing an additional 445 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of News by 5.4% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 9,545 shares of the company's stock valued at $284,000 after purchasing an additional 487 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.97% of the company's stock.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.