The New York Times Company (NYSE:NYT) Short Interest Down 15.9% in April

Key Points

• Short interest in The New York Times fell 15.9% in April to 8,186,033 shares (about 5.2% of shares sold short), representing a short-interest ratio of roughly 4.2 days on average daily volume.
• Large institutions added to positions—Berkshire Hathaway initiated a stake worth about $351.7M and several firms materially increased holdings—while insiders have sold roughly 27,913 shares in the past 90 days (chairman sold 13,000); corporate insiders own 1.90%.
• Analysts have a consensus Moderate Buy with a $72.50 target; NYT recently beat quarterly EPS and revenue estimates, reported 10.4% YoY revenue growth, and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.23 (annualized $0.92, ~1.2% yield).

The New York Times Company (NYSE:NYT - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totaling 8,186,033 shares, a decline of 15.9% from the March 31st total of 9,732,285 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,940,505 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.2 days. Approximately 5.2% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on NYT. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of New York Times in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Guggenheim set a $63.00 target price on New York Times and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Barclays lifted their target price on New York Times from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Bank of America began coverage on New York Times in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $84.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Argus upgraded New York Times to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $72.50.

Insider Transactions at New York Times

In other news, Chairman Arthur G. Sulzberger sold 13,000 shares of New York Times stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.95, for a total transaction of $1,039,350.00. Following the sale, the chairman owned 172,338 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,778,423.10. The trade was a 7.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO R Anthony Benten sold 1,913 shares of New York Times stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.57, for a total value of $140,739.41. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 37,772 shares in the company, valued at $2,778,886.04. This trade represents a 4.82% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 27,913 shares of company stock worth $2,214,369. Corporate insiders own 1.90% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On New York Times

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NYT. Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased a new stake in New York Times in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $351,664,000. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its holdings in New York Times by 10,018.3% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 2,316,172 shares of the company's stock valued at $160,789,000 after purchasing an additional 2,293,281 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in New York Times by 78.1% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,187,888 shares of the company's stock valued at $233,265,000 after purchasing an additional 1,836,788 shares in the last quarter. Egerton Capital UK LLP purchased a new stake in New York Times in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $97,882,000. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP boosted its holdings in New York Times by 98.5% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 2,055,628 shares of the company's stock valued at $117,993,000 after purchasing an additional 1,020,031 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.37% of the company's stock.

New York Times Stock Up 1.0%

NYT stock traded up $0.81 during trading on Friday, hitting $79.84. The company had a trading volume of 512,542 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,237,551. The firm has a market cap of $12.87 billion, a PE ratio of 38.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.06. New York Times has a 1-year low of $51.03 and a 1-year high of $87.10. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $80.90 and a 200-day moving average price of $71.40.

New York Times (NYSE:NYT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.01. New York Times had a return on equity of 20.73% and a net margin of 12.18%.The firm had revenue of $802.31 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $791.55 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.80 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that New York Times will post 2.79 earnings per share for the current year.

New York Times Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 16th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 1st were issued a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. This is a boost from New York Times's previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. New York Times's dividend payout ratio is presently 44.02%.

About New York Times

The New York Times Company is a publicly traded media organization best known for publishing The New York Times newspaper and operating the NYTimes.com digital platform. The company produces daily print and digital journalism covering national and international news, opinion pieces, feature stories, and multimedia content. Alongside its flagship newspaper, the firm offers a range of subscription-based services, including Times Cooking, NYT Games, podcasts and newsletters, designed to engage a broad audience of readers and advertisers.

Founded in 1851 by Henry Jarvis Raymond and George Jones, The New York Times has built a reputation for in-depth reporting and investigative journalism.

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