News (NASDAQ:NWSA) Price Target Raised to $38.00

Key Points

• JPMorgan raised News Corp.’s price target to $38 from $36 and maintained an “overweight” rating, implying 25.74% upside from the prior close.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive: News has five Buy ratings and one Hold rating, with an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $38.50.
• News reported quarterly EPS of $0.35 versus the $0.21 consensus estimate, while revenue reached $2.34 billion, up 10.8% year over year and above expectations.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA - Get Free Report) had its price objective boosted by research analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $36.00 to $38.00 in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an "overweight" rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s price target points to a potential upside of 25.74% from the company's previous close.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on NWSA. Wall Street Zen raised shares of News from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $35.00 price objective on shares of News in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of News from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Zacks Research cut shares of News from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised News from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $38.50.

News Stock Up 1.9%

NASDAQ:NWSA traded up $0.57 on Friday, reaching $30.22. The stock had a trading volume of 912,054 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,475,743. The company has a 50-day moving average of $27.30 and a 200 day moving average of $25.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. The stock has a market cap of $16.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.34 and a beta of 0.88. News has a 12-month low of $22.20 and a 12-month high of $31.61.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.14. News had a return on equity of 7.09% and a net margin of 6.35%.The business had revenue of $2.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.25 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.19 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that News will post 1.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On News

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Swedbank AB boosted its stake in News by 77.3% during the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 192,326 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,024,000 after purchasing an additional 83,821 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of News by 14.2% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 823,989 shares of the company's stock valued at $21,580,000 after buying an additional 102,259 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in shares of News by 120.6% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 2,326,616 shares of the company's stock worth $58,002,000 after purchasing an additional 1,272,083 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of News by 2.3% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,245,597 shares of the company's stock valued at $105,842,000 after buying an additional 94,368 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in News by 54.5% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 567,584 shares of the company's stock worth $14,149,000 after purchasing an additional 200,262 shares in the last quarter. 66.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

News Company Profile

News Corporation NASDAQ: NWSA is a global diversified media and information services company headquartered in New York City. It operates through two principal segments: News and Information Services, and Digital Real Estate Services. The company's news and information division oversees a portfolio of leading newspapers, magazines and digital platforms, offering content across print and online channels. Its properties include Dow Jones, publisher of The Wall Street Journal and Barron's, News UK titles such as The Times and The Sun, as well as News Corp Australia mastheads.

In addition to its journalism assets, News Corp is a significant player in book publishing through HarperCollins, one of the world's largest consumer publishers.

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