Skydance (NYSE:SKYD) Sets New 12-Month High – Here’s What Happened

Skydance Corporation (NYSE:SKYD) shares reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday. The stock traded as high as $9.84 and last traded at $9.81, with a volume of 25313137 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $9.84.

Key Headlines Impacting Skydance

Here are the key news stories impacting Skydance this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Merger completed: Paramount Skydance closed its acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, creating a substantially larger global media company named Skydance. The combination expands its film, television, streaming, news and sports assets and reduces the number of major Hollywood studios from five to four. Paramount closes historic Warner Bros. merger to form Skydance
• Positive Sentiment: Leadership announced: David Ellison will lead Skydance as chairman and CEO alongside co-CEO Ynon Kreiz, with an expanded management team combining Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery executives. Investors may view the structure as improving clarity around integration and execution. David Ellison’s leadership team for new Paramount-Warner Bros Discovery
• Positive Sentiment: Corporate-action demand: The planned NYSE listing and ticker change from PSKY to SKYD, along with a one-for-one warrant distribution for eligible Class B shareholders, prompted unusual trading and investor positioning ahead of the closing. Paramount Skydance to close WBD deal, change ticker to SKYD
• Neutral Sentiment: Investor debate remains elevated: Some analysis views the enlarged content library and potential operating synergies as attractive, while recent options activity indicates substantial speculative interest around the merger and ticker transition. Skydance: The New Media Megamerger Is A Buy Despite The Debt
• Negative Sentiment: Heavy leverage is the principal risk: Shareholders receiving the renamed company are inheriting roughly $80 billion of debt tied to the transaction. High interest costs and the challenge of integrating two large media businesses could limit the benefits of scale and pressure future cash flow. A Massive Pile of Debt Threatens Ellison’s New Media Empire

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on SKYD shares. Barclays started coverage on shares of Skydance in a research report on Thursday, September 17th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $4.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Skydance in a report on Monday, September 14th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Arete Research reiterated a “sell” rating and set a $1.00 price target on shares of Skydance in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Skydance from $5.00 to $5.75 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 22nd. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Skydance from $6.50 to $4.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and nine have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $5.58.

Skydance Stock Down 0.3%

The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $5.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $5.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.53.

Skydance (NYSE:SKYD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The media and entertainment company reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.08 by $0.01. Skydance had a negative net margin of 2.13% and a positive return on equity of 4.11%. The business had revenue of $6.91 billion during the quarter. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Skydance Corporation will post 0.5 EPS for the current year.

Skydance Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th were paid a dividend of $0.0250 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 15th. This is a decrease from Skydance’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.05. This represents a $0.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Skydance’s payout ratio is 68.97%.

Institutional Trading of Skydance

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of SKYD. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Skydance during the 2nd quarter worth about $14,002,000. Gradient Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Skydance in the second quarter valued at about $2,062,000. Palestra Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Skydance during the second quarter worth about $12,798,000. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new position in shares of Skydance during the second quarter worth about $3,231,000. Finally, Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. acquired a new position in shares of Skydance in the first quarter worth approximately $1,623,000. 73.00% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Skydance

Skydance Corporation is a global media and entertainment company formerly known as Paramount Skydance Corporation.