New York Times (NYSE:NYT) Cut to “Hold” at Zacks Research

Zacks Research downgraded shares of New York Times (NYSE:NYT) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Monday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on New York Times from $60.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Barclays set a $52.00 price objective on New York Times and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on New York Times from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of New York Times in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. Finally, Guggenheim increased their target price on New York Times from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, New York Times currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.33.

New York Times Stock Down 1.1%

NYT stock opened at $57.59 on Monday. New York Times has a twelve month low of $44.83 and a twelve month high of $62.24. The firm has a market cap of $9.38 billion, a PE ratio of 29.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.16. The business has a 50 day moving average of $56.82 and a 200 day moving average of $53.45.

New York Times (NYSE:NYT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.08. New York Times had a return on equity of 19.55% and a net margin of 11.92%.The company had revenue of $685.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $670.22 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.45 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that New York Times will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

New York Times Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 24th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 9th were paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 9th. New York Times’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.11%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP William Bardeen sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.04, for a total value of $290,200.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 11,243 shares in the company, valued at $652,543.72. This trade represents a 30.78% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Jacqueline M. Welch sold 5,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.04, for a total value of $330,220.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 14,470 shares in the company, valued at approximately $868,778.80. This trade represents a 27.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On New York Times

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of NYT. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its stake in shares of New York Times by 32.9% in the 4th quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 10,929 shares of the company’s stock worth $569,000 after buying an additional 2,704 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its position in New York Times by 8.4% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 32,449 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,689,000 after purchasing an additional 2,510 shares in the last quarter. Ethic Inc. lifted its position in New York Times by 64.2% during the fourth quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 10,248 shares of the company’s stock valued at $533,000 after purchasing an additional 4,006 shares in the last quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc lifted its position in New York Times by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 77,531 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,035,000 after purchasing an additional 865 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth lifted its position in New York Times by 19.3% during the fourth quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 7,650 shares of the company’s stock valued at $398,000 after purchasing an additional 1,240 shares in the last quarter. 95.37% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.