News (NASDAQ:NWSA) Stock Lifted to “Strong-Buy” by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of News (NASDAQ:NWSA) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report released on Saturday,Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on NWSA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of News from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 21st. Zacks Research cut News from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $35.00 price objective on shares of News in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded News from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, News currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $38.50.

News Price Performance

NWSA stock opened at $28.69 on Friday. News has a 52-week low of $22.20 and a 52-week high of $31.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 1.62. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $29.41 and a 200-day moving average price of $27.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.85 and a beta of 0.97.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.25 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.19 EPS. News’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that News will post 1.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

News Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 68.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 9th. News’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.42%.

Institutional Trading of News

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of NWSA. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in News by 282.7% in the second quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,032 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 1,501 shares during the period. Root Financial Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of News by 96.2% during the 1st quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 2,188 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 1,073 shares during the period. Havemeyer Place LP purchased a new stake in shares of News during the 4th quarter valued at about $94,000. IFP Advisors Inc increased its position in shares of News by 79.0% during the 2nd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 3,682 shares of the company’s stock valued at $91,000 after purchasing an additional 1,625 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of News by 26.5% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,299 shares of the company’s stock worth $207,000 after purchasing an additional 1,739 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 66.97% of the company’s stock.

News Company Profile

News Corp (NASDAQ: NWSA) is a global media and information-services company that creates and distributes news, business information, books, digital content and real estate services. Its operations serve consumers, professionals, institutions and businesses across the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and other international markets.

The company’s Dow Jones division provides business and financial news, data and information through publications and platforms including The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s, MarketWatch, Factiva and Dow Jones Newswires.