News (NASDAQ:NWSA) Posts Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.14 EPS

News (NASDAQ:NWSA) issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.14, Zacks reports. News had a return on equity of 7.07% and a net margin of 6.35%.The firm had revenue of $2.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.25 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.19 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year.

News Stock Performance

Shares of News stock traded down $1.00 on Friday, reaching $28.66. 1,367,537 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,556,334. The company has a quick ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. News has a twelve month low of $22.20 and a twelve month high of $31.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.79 and a beta of 0.88. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $26.85 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $25.68.

News Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 9th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 68.0%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 9th. News’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.95%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On News

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of News by 16.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 31,356,593 shares of the company’s stock valued at $965,673,000 after acquiring an additional 4,448,929 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in News by 11.7% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 9,072,194 shares of the company’s stock valued at $278,607,000 after purchasing an additional 947,687 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in News by 9.6% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,445,993 shares of the company’s stock valued at $220,609,000 after purchasing an additional 739,654 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its holdings in News by 2,348.9% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 5,664,644 shares of the company’s stock valued at $147,961,000 after purchasing an additional 5,433,332 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley grew its position in News by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,412,573 shares of the company’s stock worth $141,376,000 after purchasing an additional 500,010 shares during the period. 66.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on NWSA. Citigroup decreased their price target on News from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of News from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of News from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of News from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $35.00 price target on shares of News in a research note on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and five have assigned a Buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $38.50.

News Company Profile

News Corporation (NASDAQ: NWSA) is a global diversified media and information services company headquartered in New York City. It operates through two principal segments: News and Information Services, and Digital Real Estate Services. The company’s news and information division oversees a portfolio of leading newspapers, magazines and digital platforms, offering content across print and online channels. Its properties include Dow Jones, publisher of The Wall Street Journal and Barron’s, News UK titles such as The Times and The Sun, as well as News Corp Australia mastheads.

In addition to its journalism assets, News Corp is a significant player in book publishing through HarperCollins, one of the world’s largest consumer publishers.