News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWSA) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWSA) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of February. As of February 13th, there was short interest totaling 12,334,676 shares, an increase of 19.4% from the January 29th total of 10,327,918 shares. Approximately 2.6% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 5,948,087 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.1 days. Based on an average trading volume of 5,948,087 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.1 days. Approximately 2.6% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Institutional Trading of News

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in NWSA. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC purchased a new position in News during the second quarter valued at $30,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in shares of News during the third quarter valued at $31,000. Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of News in the 3rd quarter worth about $35,000. Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new position in News in the 3rd quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its position in News by 154.5% during the 3rd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 1,285 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 780 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.97% of the company’s stock.

News Stock Up 0.9%

NWSA stock traded up $0.22 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $24.03. The stock had a trading volume of 2,522,194 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,001,667. The business has a 50-day moving average of $25.22 and a two-hundred day moving average of $26.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.81 and a quick ratio of 1.69. The firm has a market cap of $13.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.84 and a beta of 0.98. News has a 52-week low of $22.20 and a 52-week high of $31.61.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.30 billion. News had a net margin of 13.35% and a return on equity of 5.94%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.33 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that News will post 0.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

News Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 11th. This represents a dividend yield of 83.0%. News’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.85%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NWSA has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of News from $40.00 to $39.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 9th. Guggenheim dropped their price objective on News from $45.00 to $43.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Zacks Research cut News from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Wall Street Zen upgraded News from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $32.40 price target on shares of News in a report on Friday, February 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $37.02.

News Company Profile

News Corporation (NASDAQ: NWSA) is a global diversified media and information services company headquartered in New York City. It operates through two principal segments: News and Information Services, and Digital Real Estate Services. The company’s news and information division oversees a portfolio of leading newspapers, magazines and digital platforms, offering content across print and online channels. Its properties include Dow Jones, publisher of The Wall Street Journal and Barron’s, News UK titles such as The Times and The Sun, as well as News Corp Australia mastheads.

In addition to its journalism assets, News Corp is a significant player in book publishing through HarperCollins, one of the world’s largest consumer publishers.