Madison Square Garden (NYSE:MSGS) Reaches New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

The Madison Square Garden Company (NYSE:MSGS)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $263.13 and last traded at $264.2420, with a volume of 123853 shares. The stock had previously closed at $255.77.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Madison Square Garden from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, December 15th. BTIG Research assumed coverage on Madison Square Garden in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Madison Square Garden in a report on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research raised shares of Madison Square Garden from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Madison Square Garden from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Madison Square Garden has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $261.33.

Madison Square Garden Price Performance

The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $232.73 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $217.64. The stock has a market cap of $6.35 billion, a PE ratio of -269.90 and a beta of 0.63.

Madison Square Garden (NYSE:MSGS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 31st. The company reported ($0.37) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.04) by $0.67. The business had revenue of $39.45 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.41 million. The firm’s revenue was down 26.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.31) EPS. Equities research analysts expect that The Madison Square Garden Company will post 0.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Madison Square Garden

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of MSGS. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in shares of Madison Square Garden by 5.4% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 54,949 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,701,000 after purchasing an additional 2,818 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Madison Square Garden by 28.2% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 24,807 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,830,000 after acquiring an additional 5,452 shares during the period. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new stake in Madison Square Garden during the first quarter valued at approximately $333,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new stake in Madison Square Garden in the second quarter valued at $288,000. Finally, Vident Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Madison Square Garden in the 1st quarter valued at $269,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.94% of the company’s stock.

Madison Square Garden Company Profile

Madison Square Garden Sports Corp (NYSE: MSGS) is a leading sports and entertainment holding company focused on professional sports franchises and related media assets. The company owns and operates teams such as the NBA’s New York Knicks, the NHL’s New York Rangers and the WNBA’s New York Liberty. Through these flagship franchises, MSG Sports offers a range of products and services including ticketing, premium seating and sponsorship opportunities, targeting fans in the New York metropolitan area and beyond.

In addition to team operations, Madison Square Garden Sports Corp holds a majority stake in MSG Networks, a regional cable network that broadcasts live sporting events, news and original programming.