News (NASDAQ:NWSA) Reaches New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Shares of News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWSA) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $31.66 and last traded at $31.2040, with a volume of 3827303 shares. The stock had previously closed at $30.96.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on NWSA shares. Citigroup dropped their target price on News from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Wall Street Zen raised News from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. Weiss Ratings upgraded News from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $35.00 target price on shares of News in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of News from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, News currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $38.50.

News Stock Up 0.7%

The firm has a market cap of $16.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.28 and a beta of 0.88. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $27.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $26.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.51.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $2.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.25 billion. News had a return on equity of 7.09% and a net margin of 6.35%.News’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.19 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that News Corporation will post 1.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

News Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 7th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 9th. This represents a yield of 68.0%. News’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.42%.

Institutional Trading of News

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of News by 5.5% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 37,556 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,022,000 after purchasing an additional 1,950 shares during the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association bought a new position in News during the 1st quarter worth $206,000. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new stake in News in the first quarter worth $204,000. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its stake in News by 44.4% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 16,618 shares of the company’s stock valued at $452,000 after buying an additional 5,106 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of News during the second quarter valued at $545,000. 66.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About News

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.