New York Times (NYSE:NYT) Reaches New 12-Month High After Earnings Beat

The New York Times Company (NYSE:NYT) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock traded as high as $58.50 and last traded at $59.98, with a volume of 763237 shares. The stock had previously closed at $53.62.

The company reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $685.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $670.22 million. New York Times had a return on equity of 18.70% and a net margin of 11.53%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.45 earnings per share.

New York Times Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 24th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 9th were issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 9th. New York Times’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.13%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on NYT shares. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on New York Times from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded New York Times from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of New York Times in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, New York Times has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $56.40.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other New York Times news, Director David S. Perpich sold 4,000 shares of New York Times stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.18, for a total transaction of $224,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 27,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,548,826.42. The trade was a 12.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO R Anthony Benten sold 1,990 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.75, for a total transaction of $112,932.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 39,685 shares in the company, valued at $2,252,123.75. This represents a 4.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 8,490 shares of company stock valued at $479,728. 1.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in shares of New York Times by 7.9% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,849 shares of the company’s stock worth $141,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position in New York Times by 12.6% during the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,895 shares of the company’s stock worth $99,000 after acquiring an additional 212 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio boosted its position in New York Times by 0.5% during the second quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 54,815 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,069,000 after acquiring an additional 271 shares during the last quarter. Valueworks LLC grew its stake in New York Times by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Valueworks LLC now owns 88,939 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,411,000 after acquiring an additional 278 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in New York Times by 20.0% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,769 shares of the company’s stock valued at $99,000 after acquiring an additional 295 shares during the last quarter. 95.37% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

New York Times Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $10.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $54.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $52.06.

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.