Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report released on Monday.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on PARA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Paramount Global from $12.00 to $11.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $19.00 price objective on shares of Paramount Global in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Guggenheim reduced their price objective on shares of Paramount Global from $19.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Macquarie restated an “underperform” rating and set a $10.00 price objective on shares of Paramount Global in a research note on Monday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Paramount Global in a research note on Monday. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Paramount Global has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $12.40.

Paramount Global Price Performance

PARA opened at $11.16 on Monday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $10.58 and a 200 day simple moving average of $11.09. The stock has a market cap of $7.44 billion, a P/E ratio of -1.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.74. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. Paramount Global has a 12 month low of $9.54 and a 12 month high of $17.50.

Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA) last released its earnings results on Friday, November 8th. The company reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $6.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.94 billion. Paramount Global had a positive return on equity of 5.81% and a negative net margin of 18.89%. The company’s revenue was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.30 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Paramount Global will post 1.78 EPS for the current year.

Paramount Global Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be given a dividend of $0.05 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.79%. Paramount Global’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -2.43%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Paramount Global by 6.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 62,090,467 shares of the company’s stock worth $730,805,000 after purchasing an additional 3,803,928 shares during the period. Lingotto Investment Management LLP increased its holdings in shares of Paramount Global by 628.8% during the second quarter. Lingotto Investment Management LLP now owns 29,937,007 shares of the company’s stock worth $311,046,000 after purchasing an additional 25,829,185 shares during the period. Ariel Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Paramount Global by 16.5% during the second quarter. Ariel Investments LLC now owns 14,042,265 shares of the company’s stock worth $145,899,000 after purchasing an additional 1,992,576 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Paramount Global by 16.2% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,394,825 shares of the company’s stock valued at $78,533,000 after acquiring an additional 1,030,592 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kodai Capital Management LP increased its stake in Paramount Global by 9.2% in the first quarter. Kodai Capital Management LP now owns 6,264,374 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,732,000 after acquiring an additional 527,897 shares during the last quarter. 73.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.