Skydance (NYSE:SKYD) Sets New 1-Year High – Here’s What Happened

Skydance Corporation (NYSE:SKYD) shares hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday. The stock traded as high as $9.84 and last traded at $9.81, with a volume of 25313137 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $9.84.

Key Skydance News

Here are the key news stories impacting Skydance this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Merger completion provides scale and potential cost savings. The approximately $110 billion combination brings major film, television and streaming assets under Skydance, with management expected to pursue synergies and cost reductions. Skydance Just Became a Media Giant—With an $80 Billion Debt Load
• Positive Sentiment: Streaming consolidation could improve the company’s competitive position. Skydance plans to combine HBO Max and Paramount+ into a single streaming service, potentially simplifying the offering, expanding content breadth and improving the path toward streaming profitability. Skydance will combine HBO Max and Paramount+ into a single streaming service
• Positive Sentiment: New leadership and board appointments add operating and strategic experience. Former Mattel CEO Ynon Kreiz is expected to help address the debt burden, while Bobby Kotick and Laurene Powell Jobs join the board. Skydance has a debt problem
• Neutral Sentiment: Management is emphasizing content and distribution execution. Josh Goldstine will oversee marketing and distribution across Skydance’s film labels, while David Ellison said the company intends to pursue original productions alongside established franchises. Josh Goldstine To Oversee Marketing And Distribution
• Negative Sentiment: Heavy debt remains the primary risk. The enlarged company reportedly carries roughly $80 billion in debt, increasing refinancing and interest-cost pressure. Investors may require evidence that promised synergies, streaming integration and asset performance can support deleveraging. Skydance Just Became a Media Giant—With an $80 Billion Debt Load

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on SKYD. Barclays set a $7.00 target price on Skydance and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Benchmark lowered their price target on shares of Skydance from $9.50 to $8.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of Skydance from $6.50 to $4.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $7.00 price objective on shares of Skydance in a research report on Tuesday, September 22nd. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on Skydance from $5.00 to $4.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and nine have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $5.78.

Skydance Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The firm has a market cap of $10.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.53. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $5.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $5.12.

Skydance (NYSE:SKYD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The media and entertainment company reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.08 by $0.01. Skydance had a positive return on equity of 4.11% and a negative net margin of 2.13%.The company had revenue of $6.91 billion for the quarter. On average, analysts anticipate that Skydance Corporation will post 0.5 EPS for the current year.

Skydance Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 15th were issued a dividend of $0.0250 per share. This represents a $0.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 15th. This is a negative change from Skydance’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.05. Skydance’s payout ratio is presently 68.97%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Skydance

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Compass Financial Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Skydance during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $42,000. CX Institutional boosted its stake in Skydance by 38.1% in the second quarter. CX Institutional now owns 4,612 shares of the media and entertainment company’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 1,273 shares in the last quarter. Vestcor Inc purchased a new position in shares of Skydance in the fourth quarter worth about $73,000. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. increased its stake in shares of Skydance by 18.0% in the first quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 6,560 shares of the media and entertainment company’s stock worth $59,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Finally, Western Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Skydance in the first quarter worth about $61,000. 73.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Skydance Company Profile

Skydance Corporation is a global media and entertainment company formerly known as Paramount Skydance Corporation.