Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA) Receives “Market Perform” Rating from Raymond James

Raymond James reiterated their market perform rating on shares of Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA) in a research report released on Tuesday, Benzinga reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the company. Moffett Nathanson raised Paramount Global from a sell rating to a neutral rating and set a $13.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. Benchmark dropped their target price on shares of Paramount Global from $30.00 to $19.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of Paramount Global from $20.00 to $15.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Redburn Atlantic downgraded Paramount Global from a neutral rating to a sell rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $17.00 to $11.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities upgraded shares of Paramount Global from a sell rating to a neutral rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $9.00 to $13.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $14.05.

Paramount Global Price Performance

PARA opened at $11.77 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.32. Paramount Global has a 1-year low of $10.16 and a 1-year high of $24.00. The company has a 50-day moving average of $12.25 and a 200-day moving average of $13.04. The company has a market capitalization of $7.68 billion, a P/E ratio of -11.54, a PEG ratio of 0.41 and a beta of 1.76.

Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The company reported $0.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.05) by $0.09. Paramount Global had a positive return on equity of 1.78% and a negative net margin of 2.05%. The firm had revenue of $7.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.80 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.08 earnings per share. Paramount Global’s quarterly revenue was down 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Paramount Global will post 1.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paramount Global Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th will be given a dividend of $0.05 per share. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.70%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 14th. Paramount Global’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -19.61%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Paramount Global

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PARA. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Paramount Global by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 58,286,539 shares of the company’s stock valued at $862,058,000 after purchasing an additional 626,256 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. grew its position in Paramount Global by 30.4% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 54,882,034 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,224,418,000 after purchasing an additional 12,783,448 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Paramount Global by 7.3% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 35,333,056 shares of the company’s stock worth $796,459,000 after buying an additional 2,402,874 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Paramount Global by 9.4% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 14,832,568 shares of the company’s stock worth $191,340,000 after acquiring an additional 1,272,851 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Paramount Global by 15.3% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,299,798 shares of the company’s stock valued at $171,567,000 after purchasing an additional 1,767,173 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 73.00% of the company’s stock.

About Paramount Global

Paramount Global operates as a media, streaming, and entertainment company worldwide. It operates through TV Media, Direct-to-Consumer, and Filmed Entertainment segments. The TV Media segment operates CBS Television Network, a domestic broadcast television network; CBS Stations, a television station; and international free-to-air networks comprising Network 10, Channel 5, Telefe, and Chilevisión; domestic premium and basic cable networks, such as Paramount+ with Showtime, MTV, Comedy Central, Paramount Network, The Smithsonian Channel, Nickelodeon, BET Media Group, and CBS Sports Network; and international extensions of these brands.