Analysts Set News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWSA) Target Price at $38.50

News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWSA) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $38.50.

NWSA has been the topic of several research reports. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $35.00 price target on shares of News in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Wall Street Zen raised News from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of News from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of News from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 21st. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of News from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th.

News Stock Performance

Shares of NWSA opened at $30.97 on Monday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $27.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $26.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.76 billion, a PE ratio of 30.07 and a beta of 0.88. News has a one year low of $22.20 and a one year high of $31.66.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.14. News had a return on equity of 7.09% and a net margin of 6.35%.The firm had revenue of $2.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.25 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.19 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that News will post 1.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

News Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 9th. This represents a dividend yield of 68.0%. News’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.42%.

Institutional Trading of News

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in News during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC bought a new stake in News in the second quarter worth $30,000. Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new stake in News in the third quarter worth $35,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its stake in shares of News by 154.5% in the third quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 1,285 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 780 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of News by 561.1% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,732 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 1,470 shares in the last quarter. 66.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.