Weiss Ratings Reaffirms Sell (D+) Rating for Madison Square Garden (NYSE:MSGS)

Key Points

• Weiss Ratings has reiterated a "sell (D+)" rating for Madison Square Garden (NYSE:MSGS), indicating continued skepticism about the company's stock performance.
• Despite the negative rating from Weiss, analysts have varied opinions, with Morgan Stanley raising their target price from $215 to $220, while Citigroup issued a "buy" rating with a target price of $285.
• Madison Square Garden reported a loss of ($0.07) earnings per share for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' estimates, but its revenue declined by 10.3% compared to the previous year.

Madison Square Garden (NYSE:MSGS - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "sell (d+)" rating reiterated by stock analysts at Weiss Ratings in a report issued on Wednesday,Weiss Ratings reports.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Madison Square Garden from $215.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. BTIG Research started coverage on Madison Square Garden in a research report on Tuesday. They set a "neutral" rating for the company. Finally, Citigroup started coverage on Madison Square Garden in a research report on Tuesday, September 9th. They set a "buy" rating and a $285.00 price objective for the company. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $258.83.

Madison Square Garden Price Performance

Shares of MSGS stock opened at $219.77 on Wednesday. Madison Square Garden has a 12-month low of $173.26 and a 12-month high of $237.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -238.88 and a beta of 0.78. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $207.66 and a 200 day simple moving average of $199.73.

Madison Square Garden (NYSE:MSGS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 12th. The company reported ($0.07) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.42) by $0.35. The firm had revenue of $203.96 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $151.00 million. Madison Square Garden had a negative return on equity of 1.76% and a negative net margin of 2.16%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.06 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Madison Square Garden will post 0.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Madison Square Garden

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in shares of Madison Square Garden by 59.5% in the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 185 shares of the company's stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd increased its stake in shares of Madison Square Garden by 35.5% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 416 shares of the company's stock worth $81,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its stake in shares of Madison Square Garden by 313.4% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 401 shares of the company's stock worth $84,000 after acquiring an additional 304 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its stake in shares of Madison Square Garden by 407.7% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 528 shares of the company's stock worth $110,000 after acquiring an additional 424 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FNY Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Madison Square Garden in the second quarter worth $111,000. 68.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Madison Square Garden

Madison Square Garden Sports Corp. operates as a professional sports company in the United States. The company owns and operates a portfolio of assets that consists of the New York Knickerbockers of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League. Its other professional franchises include development league teams, the Hartford Wolf Pack of the American Hockey League and the Westchester Knicks of the NBA G League.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.