News (NASDAQ:NWS) Hits New 1-Year High After Strong Earnings

Shares of News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWS) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock traded as high as $35.31 and last traded at $34.3550, with a volume of 261482 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $33.13.

The company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.11. News had a net margin of 12.92% and a return on equity of 6.12%. The company had revenue of $2.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.25 billion.

News Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 9th will be given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a yield of 60.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 9th. News’s payout ratio is currently 9.95%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NWS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Zacks Research downgraded shares of News from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of News from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On News

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of NWS. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in News by 15.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,163,392 shares of the company’s stock valued at $301,141,000 after purchasing an additional 1,344,287 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its holdings in shares of News by 60.4% during the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 268,349 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,971,000 after buying an additional 101,018 shares in the last quarter. Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new position in shares of News in the first quarter valued at approximately $5,408,000. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in shares of News by 896.1% in the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 55,780 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,653,000 after acquiring an additional 50,180 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in News by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,761,977 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,233,000 after acquiring an additional 46,837 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 14.63% of the company’s stock.

News Trading Up 3.0%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.59 and a current ratio of 1.70. The stock has a market cap of $18.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.00 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $30.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $29.26.

About News

News Corporation (NASDAQ: NWS) is a global media and information services company engaged in news and digital real estate, book publishing and other media businesses. The company’s operations include print and digital newsbrands, business and financial information services, consumer platforms for property listings, and a major book publishing arm. Through its subsidiaries and brands, News Corp produces news content, market and financial reporting, online real-estate marketplaces and trade and consumer publishing products.

Key areas of activity include news and information, where the company publishes national and regional newspapers and operates business information services; book publishing through a well-known global publisher; and property-related digital businesses that operate online marketplaces for real estate listings.