News (NASDAQ:NWSA) Downgraded to "Hold" Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of News (NASDAQ:NWSA - Free Report) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Monday morning.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group upgraded News from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Guggenheim increased their price target on News from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Loop Capital dropped their target price on shares of News from $44.00 to $41.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on News from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of News in a research note on Friday, January 10th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $36.00 price target on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, News has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $38.80.

News Stock Up 0.7 %

NASDAQ:NWSA traded up $0.19 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $25.86. 2,980,969 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,808,458. The company has a market capitalization of $14.67 billion, a PE ratio of 35.43 and a beta of 1.24. News has a fifty-two week low of $22.65 and a fifty-two week high of $30.69. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $27.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $27.71. The company has a current ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.04. News had a net margin of 4.22% and a return on equity of 5.31%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that News will post 0.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

News Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 12th were given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.55%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 12th. News's dividend payout ratio is currently 27.40%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of News by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 50,952,317 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,403,227,000 after purchasing an additional 632,721 shares in the last quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP grew its stake in News by 11.8% in the fourth quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 26,617,259 shares of the company's stock worth $733,039,000 after purchasing an additional 2,812,080 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its stake in News by 124.0% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 14,713,823 shares of the company's stock worth $391,832,000 after buying an additional 8,144,856 shares during the last quarter. Dodge & Cox grew its position in News by 12.0% during the 4th quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 11,662,685 shares of the company's stock worth $321,190,000 after purchasing an additional 1,245,278 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of News by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,857,139 shares of the company's stock worth $270,798,000 after purchasing an additional 234,893 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 66.97% of the company's stock.

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.