Madison Square Garden (NYSE:MSGS) Reaches New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

The Madison Square Garden Company (NYSE:MSGS) hit a new 52-week high on Thursday . The company traded as high as $263.13 and last traded at $264.2420, with a volume of 123853 shares. The stock had previously closed at $255.77.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MSGS. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Madison Square Garden in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Madison Square Garden from $285.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. Wolfe Research cut Madison Square Garden from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Madison Square Garden from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Madison Square Garden from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $261.33.

Madison Square Garden Stock Performance

The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $232.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $217.64. The firm has a market cap of $6.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -269.90 and a beta of 0.63.

Madison Square Garden (NYSE:MSGS) last announced its earnings results on Friday, October 31st. The company reported ($0.37) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.04) by $0.67. The company had revenue of $39.45 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.41 million. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 26.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.31) earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that The Madison Square Garden Company will post 0.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Madison Square Garden

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MSGS. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Madison Square Garden by 5,450.0% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 111 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the period. Salomon & Ludwin LLC purchased a new position in Madison Square Garden during the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Madison Square Garden by 524.0% during the third quarter. Accredited Wealth Management LLC now owns 156 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 131 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its stake in Madison Square Garden by 59.5% in the 2nd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 185 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Madison Square Garden in the third quarter worth $80,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.94% of the company’s stock.

About Madison Square Garden

Madison Square Garden Sports Corp (NYSE: MSGS) is a leading sports and entertainment holding company focused on professional sports franchises and related media assets. The company owns and operates teams such as the NBA’s New York Knicks, the NHL’s New York Rangers and the WNBA’s New York Liberty. Through these flagship franchises, MSG Sports offers a range of products and services including ticketing, premium seating and sponsorship opportunities, targeting fans in the New York metropolitan area and beyond.

In addition to team operations, Madison Square Garden Sports Corp holds a majority stake in MSG Networks, a regional cable network that broadcasts live sporting events, news and original programming.