News (NASDAQ:NWS) Stock Crosses Above 200-Day Moving Average After Analyst Downgrade

Shares of News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWS) crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Monday after Zacks Research upgraded the stock from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating. The stock has a 200-day moving average of $30.89 and traded as high as $32.02. News shares last traded at $32.00, with a volume of 921,214 shares.

Separately, Weiss Ratings upgraded News from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, News has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On News

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Allworth Financial LP grew its position in News by 79.4% during the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,717 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 760 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of News by 21.1% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,278 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 397 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new position in shares of News during the 2nd quarter valued at $65,000. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its position in News by 37.2% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 3,801 shares of the company’s stock worth $108,000 after purchasing an additional 1,030 shares during the period. Finally, Nykredit A S bought a new stake in News in the second quarter worth $129,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 14.63% of the company’s stock.

News Price Performance

The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $33.07 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $30.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.62 and a quick ratio of 1.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.60 and a beta of 0.96.

News (NASDAQ:NWS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.11. News had a net margin of 6.35% and a return on equity of 7.09%. The firm had revenue of $2.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.25 billion. As a group, analysts predict that News Corporation will post 1.31 earnings per share for the current year.

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 dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 9th. This represents a yield of 60.0%. News’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.42%.

About News

News Corp (NASDAQ: NWS) is a global diversified media and information services company headquartered in New York. Its businesses produce and distribute news, financial information, books, digital content and real estate listings across multiple platforms and geographies.

The company’s principal operations include Dow Jones, which provides business news, financial data and professional information services through publications such as The Wall Street Journal and Barron’s; News Corp Australia and News UK, which operate newspapers, digital news properties and other media brands; and HarperCollins Publishers, a global publisher of books in a broad range of categories.