News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWSA) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWSA) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the seven research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $37.14.

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on NWSA. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $34.00 price objective on shares of News in a research report on Sunday, May 10th. Zacks Research upgraded News from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Weiss Ratings downgraded News from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on News from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded News from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On News

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Merit Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of News by 1.3% during the third quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 36,568 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,123,000 after purchasing an additional 481 shares during the last quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. grew its stake in shares of News by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. now owns 11,521 shares of the company’s stock valued at $301,000 after purchasing an additional 496 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of News by 23.2% during the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,648 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 498 shares during the last quarter. Compound Planning Inc. boosted its stake in News by 5.0% in the first quarter. Compound Planning Inc. now owns 11,184 shares of the company’s stock valued at $279,000 after acquiring an additional 537 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in News by 5.9% in the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 10,139 shares of the company’s stock valued at $311,000 after acquiring an additional 563 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.97% of the company’s stock.

News Stock Performance

Shares of NWSA stock opened at $25.89 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The business has a 50 day moving average of $25.35 and a two-hundred day moving average of $25.39. News has a 52 week low of $22.20 and a 52 week high of $31.61. The company has a market cap of $14.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.88 and a beta of 0.89.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.16 by $0.05. News had a return on equity of 6.12% and a net margin of 12.92%.The company had revenue of $2.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.11 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.17 earnings per share. News’s quarterly revenue was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that News will post 0.92 EPS for the current year.

About News

News Corporation (NASDAQ: NWSA) is a global diversified media and information services company headquartered in New York City. It operates through two principal segments: News and Information Services, and Digital Real Estate Services. The company’s news and information division oversees a portfolio of leading newspapers, magazines and digital platforms, offering content across print and online channels. Its properties include Dow Jones, publisher of The Wall Street Journal and Barron’s, News UK titles such as The Times and The Sun, as well as News Corp Australia mastheads.

In addition to its journalism assets, News Corp is a significant player in book publishing through HarperCollins, one of the world’s largest consumer publishers.