News (NASDAQ:NWSA) Sets New 1-Year High – What’s Next?

News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $30.69 and last traded at $30.49, with a volume of 2737742 shares. The stock had previously closed at $30.21.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on NWSA. StockNews.com upgraded News from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded News to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Loop Capital reduced their price objective on shares of News from $44.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Guggenheim boosted their price target on News from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of News in a report on Friday, January 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $36.00 target price for the company. Six analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $39.25.

News Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $16.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.08 and a beta of 1.35. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $28.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $27.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a current ratio of 1.73.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.04. News had a return on equity of 5.31% and a net margin of 4.22%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that News Co. will post 0.94 EPS for the current year.

News Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 12th. News’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.40%.

Institutional Trading of News

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in News by 2,392.9% in the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,047 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 1,005 shares in the last quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. bought a new position in News in the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. purchased a new position in News during the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in News in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of News during the 4th quarter valued at $49,000. Institutional investors own 66.97% of the company’s stock.

News Company Profile

News Corporation, a media and information services company, creates and distributes authoritative and engaging content, and other products and services for consumers and businesses worldwide. It operates through six segments: Digital Real Estate Services, Subscription Video Services, Dow Jones, Book Publishing, News Media, and Other.