News (NASDAQ:NWSA) Raised to Strong-Buy at Zacks Research

News (NASDAQ:NWSA) was upgraded by stock analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report issued on Wednesday, Zacks reports.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Weiss Ratings cut News from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday. Raymond James Financial started coverage on News in a research report on Monday, October 19th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $35.00 price objective on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of News from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of News from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $35.00 target price on shares of News in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and five have given a Buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $36.50.

News Stock Down 2.1%

NASDAQ:NWSA opened at $26.27 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.46 and a beta of 1.01. News has a 1-year low of $22.20 and a 1-year high of $31.66. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $29.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $26.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.50.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The company reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.02. News had a return on equity of 7.42% and a net margin of 6.76%. The company had revenue of $2.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.27 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.22 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that News will post 1.34 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On News

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of News during the third quarter worth about $2,697,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its stake in News by 41.0% in the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 216,552 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,377,000 after buying an additional 62,999 shares in the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in News in the 3rd quarter valued at about $4,467,000. Nykredit A S acquired a new stake in News in the 2nd quarter worth about $1,807,000. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new stake in News in the 2nd quarter worth about $2,845,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.97% of the company’s stock.

News Company Profile

News Corporation is a global media and information services company. Its businesses include Dow Jones, which provides financial news and data through outlets such as The Wall Street Journal; HarperCollins, a book publisher; and News Corp’s news media operations, which publish newspapers and digital news services. The company also operates digital real estate businesses, including Realtor.com in the United States and REA Group in Australia. Its brands and services reach audiences and customers across the Americas, Europe, Australia and other international markets.