UBS Group Upgrades News (NASDAQ:NWSA) to Buy

UBS Group upgraded shares of News (NASDAQ:NWSA) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat reports.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on NWSA. StockNews.com cut News from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, February 2nd. Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of News from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of News to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Loop Capital decreased their price objective on News from $44.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Citigroup assumed coverage on News in a research note on Friday, January 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $36.00 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, News currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $39.25.

News Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:NWSA opened at $28.50 on Tuesday. News has a 1-year low of $22.65 and a 1-year high of $30.03. The company’s fifty day moving average is $28.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $27.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.97 and a beta of 1.35.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.04. News had a net margin of 3.49% and a return on equity of 4.76%. Equities analysts anticipate that News will post 0.91 EPS for the current year.

News Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.40%. News’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.40%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Qsemble Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in News during the third quarter valued at approximately $990,000. Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of News by 124.0% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 14,713,823 shares of the company’s stock valued at $391,832,000 after acquiring an additional 8,144,856 shares during the last quarter. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of News by 313.6% during the 3rd quarter. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. now owns 35,145 shares of the company’s stock worth $936,000 after acquiring an additional 26,648 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of News by 1.2% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,337,650 shares of the company’s stock worth $115,512,000 after purchasing an additional 53,550 shares during the period. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its position in shares of News by 26.4% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 180,283 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,801,000 after purchasing an additional 37,702 shares during the period. 66.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

News Company Profile

News Corporation, a media and information services company, creates and distributes authoritative and engaging content, and other products and services for consumers and businesses worldwide. It operates through six segments: Digital Real Estate Services, Subscription Video Services, Dow Jones, Book Publishing, News Media, and Other.