The New York Times Company (NYSE:NYT) Given Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

The New York Times Company (NYSE:NYT - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the six brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $45.67.

NYT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com upgraded New York Times from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. Argus upgraded New York Times from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $51.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Finally, Citigroup started coverage on New York Times in a research note on Tuesday, March 12th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $52.00 target price on the stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director David S. Perpich sold 3,014 shares of New York Times stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.03, for a total transaction of $132,706.42. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 20,813 shares of the company's stock, valued at $916,396.39. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, Director David S. Perpich sold 3,014 shares of New York Times stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.03, for a total transaction of $132,706.42. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 20,813 shares of the company's stock, valued at $916,396.39. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Diane Brayton sold 7,000 shares of New York Times stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.84, for a total value of $299,880.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 39,312 shares in the company, valued at $1,684,126.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 23,557 shares of company stock valued at $1,029,968. Company insiders own 2.00% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of New York Times

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in New York Times during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in New York Times during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale purchased a new position in New York Times during the 3rd quarter valued at about $37,000. Covestor Ltd grew its stake in New York Times by 9.6% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,659 shares of the company's stock valued at $110,000 after acquiring an additional 232 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new position in New York Times during the 3rd quarter valued at about $120,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.37% of the company's stock.

New York Times Price Performance

NYT traded up $0.08 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $43.23. 1,066,680 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,281,100. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $43.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $44.75. New York Times has a 12 month low of $35.06 and a 12 month high of $49.87. The stock has a market cap of $7.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.10 and a beta of 1.01.

New York Times (NYSE:NYT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $676.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $680.02 million. New York Times had a return on equity of 16.48% and a net margin of 9.58%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.65 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that New York Times will post 1.64 EPS for the current year.

New York Times Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 18th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.20%. This is a positive change from New York Times's previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 1st. New York Times's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.41%.

About New York Times

The New York Times Company, together with its subsidiaries, creates, collects, and distributes news and information worldwide. The company operates through two segments, The New York Times Group and The Athletic. It offers The New York Times (The Times) through company's mobile application, website, printed newspaper, and associated content, such as podcast.