The New York Times Company (NYSE:NYT) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of The New York Times Company (NYSE:NYT) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the six analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $45.67.

Several brokerages have commented on NYT. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of New York Times in a research note on Tuesday, March 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $52.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com raised New York Times from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 20th. Finally, Argus upgraded New York Times from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $51.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, March 4th.

New York Times Stock Up 1.3 %

New York Times stock opened at $43.16 on Tuesday. New York Times has a twelve month low of $35.06 and a twelve month high of $49.87. The firm has a market cap of $7.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.05 and a beta of 1.01. The business has a fifty day moving average of $43.34 and a two-hundred day moving average of $44.74.

New York Times (NYSE:NYT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $676.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $680.02 million. New York Times had a net margin of 9.58% and a return on equity of 16.48%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.65 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that New York Times will post 1.64 earnings per share for the current year.

New York Times Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 2nd were issued a $0.13 dividend. This is a positive change from New York Times’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 1st. New York Times’s payout ratio is 37.41%.

Insider Activity at New York Times

In other New York Times news, CEO Levien Meredith A. Kopit sold 13,543 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.11, for a total transaction of $597,381.73. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 90,759 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,003,379.49. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other New York Times news, Director David S. Perpich sold 3,014 shares of New York Times stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.03, for a total transaction of $132,706.42. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 20,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $916,396.39. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Levien Meredith A. Kopit sold 13,543 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.11, for a total value of $597,381.73. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 90,759 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,003,379.49. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 23,557 shares of company stock worth $1,029,968. 2.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On New York Times

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in shares of New York Times by 9.6% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,659 shares of the company’s stock worth $110,000 after purchasing an additional 232 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in New York Times by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 12,134 shares of the company’s stock worth $500,000 after buying an additional 276 shares during the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its position in New York Times by 0.5% during the third quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 70,924 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,922,000 after buying an additional 360 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC lifted its stake in New York Times by 1.7% in the third quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 24,576 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,013,000 after buying an additional 420 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of New York Times by 15.9% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 3,289 shares of the company’s stock valued at $161,000 after acquiring an additional 451 shares during the period. 95.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About New York Times

The New York Times Company, together with its subsidiaries, creates, collects, and distributes news and information worldwide. The company operates through two segments, The New York Times Group and The Athletic. It offers The New York Times (The Times) through company's mobile application, website, printed newspaper, and associated content, such as podcast.