USA Today (NYSE:TDAY) Shares Climb 6% - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• USA Today shares rose 6% to $7.29 in mid-day trading, with volume below the stock’s average daily level.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed: the stock has an overall “Hold” rating and a consensus price target of $9.03, with ratings ranging from Sell to Buy.
• Institutional investors own approximately 76.71% of the company, while the company carries high leverage, reflected in a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.74.

USA Today Co. (NYSE:TDAY - Get Free Report) shares rose 6% during mid-day trading on Tuesday. The company traded as high as $7.32 and last traded at $7.29. 1,628,616 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 16% from the average daily volume of 1,933,442 shares. The stock had previously closed at $6.88.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on TDAY. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of USA Today from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "sell (d)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 9th. Citizens Jmp raised their price objective on USA Today from $8.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $10.00 target price on shares of USA Today in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Wall Street Zen cut USA Today from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, July 20th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of USA Today in a research report on Monday, August 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, USA Today presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $9.03.

USA Today Stock Up 6.0%

The company has a 50-day moving average of $6.74 and a 200-day moving average of $7.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.74. The company has a market capitalization of $1.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -24.30 and a beta of 1.40.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On USA Today

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Two Seas Capital LP increased its holdings in USA Today by 3.1% in the third quarter. Two Seas Capital LP now owns 14,504,707 shares of the company's stock valued at $91,235,000 after buying an additional 434,396 shares in the last quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP grew its position in shares of USA Today by 82.9% during the 2nd quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 208,538 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,783,000 after acquiring an additional 94,548 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in shares of USA Today during the 2nd quarter valued at about $48,000. Steamboat Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of USA Today by 40.5% in the 2nd quarter. Steamboat Capital Partners LLC now owns 487,213 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,166,000 after purchasing an additional 140,512 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LP increased its stake in shares of USA Today by 23.3% in the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 14,798 shares of the company's stock valued at $127,000 after purchasing an additional 2,793 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.71% of the company's stock.

About USA Today

Gannett Co Inc invests in, owns, and operates local media assets in the United States. The company's principal products include 125 daily newspapers with total paid circulation of approximately 1.4 million; 314 weekly newspapers with total paid circulation of approximately 315,000 and total free circulation of approximately 1.9 million; 124 shoppers with total circulation of approximately 3.0 million; and 538 locally-focused Websites, including Internet and mobile devices with approximately 224 million page views per month.

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