Skydance (NYSE:SKYD) Shares Climb 4.7% - Here's Why

Key Points

• Skydance shares rose 4.7% to $9.31 in Thursday trading, with about 9.54 million shares changing hands.
• Analyst sentiment remains largely negative: the stock has a consensus “Reduce” rating, with 9 Sell, 5 Hold, and 4 Buy ratings and an average price target of $5.78.
• Skydance slightly exceeded quarterly earnings expectations with EPS of $0.09 versus $0.08 expected, but it cut its quarterly dividend to $0.025 from $0.05, producing a 1.1% annualized yield.

Skydance Corporation (NYSE:SKYD - Get Free Report) shares rose 4.7% during trading on Thursday. The company traded as high as $9.46 and last traded at $9.31. Approximately 9,537,002 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 26% from the average daily volume of 12,828,441 shares. The stock had previously closed at $8.89.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on SKYD. Arete Research reiterated a "sell" rating and set a $1.00 price objective on shares of Skydance in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Weiss Ratings raised Skydance from a "sell (d-)" rating to a "sell (d)" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Skydance from $5.00 to $4.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Skydance from $6.50 to $4.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating and issued a $7.00 price objective on shares of Skydance in a research note on Tuesday, September 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and nine have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $5.78.

Skydance Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $10.48 billion, a PE ratio of 32.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.53. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $5.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $5.12. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13.

Skydance (NYSE:SKYD - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The media and entertainment company reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.08 by $0.01. Skydance had a negative net margin of 2.13% and a positive return on equity of 4.11%. The firm had revenue of $6.91 billion for the quarter. Research analysts forecast that Skydance Corporation will post 0.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Skydance Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 15th were issued a $0.0250 dividend. This represents a $0.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 15th. This is a negative change from Skydance's previous quarterly dividend of $0.05. Skydance's dividend payout ratio is 68.97%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Skydance

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SKYD. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in Skydance during the second quarter valued at $75,000. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its holdings in Skydance by 11.6% in the second quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 50,934 shares of the media and entertainment company's stock valued at $502,000 after acquiring an additional 5,294 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its position in Skydance by 1.2% in the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 89,455 shares of the media and entertainment company's stock worth $882,000 after purchasing an additional 1,077 shares during the last quarter. Nykredit A S purchased a new position in Skydance in the second quarter worth about $150,000. Finally, Brown Financial Advisors bought a new stake in shares of Skydance during the 2nd quarter valued at about $175,000. Institutional investors own 73.00% of the company's stock.

About Skydance

Skydance Corporation is a global media and entertainment company formerly known as Paramount Skydance Corporation.

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