News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWSA) Receives $38.50 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Shares of News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWSA) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $38.50.

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $35.00 price target on shares of News in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Weiss Ratings upgraded News from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on News from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 21st. Finally, Zacks Research lowered News from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Independent Franchise Partners LLP grew its position in News by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 29,934,048 shares of the company’s stock worth $781,877,000 after purchasing an additional 1,137,691 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of News by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,458,034 shares of the company’s stock worth $272,169,000 after buying an additional 88,157 shares during the last quarter. Metropolis Capital Ltd grew its holdings in News by 26.4% during the first quarter. Metropolis Capital Ltd now owns 8,835,157 shares of the company’s stock worth $220,260,000 after acquiring an additional 1,843,900 shares during the period. State of Wisconsin Investment Board raised its position in News by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. State of Wisconsin Investment Board now owns 7,365,364 shares of the company’s stock valued at $192,383,000 after acquiring an additional 275,480 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in News during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $188,788,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.97% of the company’s stock.

News Stock Down 1.5%

NASDAQ:NWSA opened at $29.25 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. News has a twelve month low of $22.20 and a twelve month high of $31.66. The company has a market cap of $15.83 billion, a PE ratio of 28.40 and a beta of 0.91. The company’s 50 day moving average is $29.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $26.92.

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

News Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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. This represents a yield of 68.0%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 9th. News’s payout ratio is presently 19.42%.

News Company Profile

News Corp is a global media and information-services company headquartered in New York. The company owns and operates businesses in news, publishing, digital real estate services and subscription-based information products, serving consumers, businesses and professional audiences across multiple markets.

Its portfolio includes Dow Jones, which provides business news, financial information and research through publications and services such as The Wall Street Journal and Barron’s; News UK, publisher of The Times, The Sunday Times and The Sun; and News Corp Australia, which operates newspapers and digital media brands.