News (NASDAQ:NWS) Upgraded at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of News (NASDAQ:NWS) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Separately, Weiss Ratings raised News from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has issued a Buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Strong Buy”.

News Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of News stock opened at $26.00 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $29.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $30.95. The company has a current ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 1.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. News has a 12-month low of $25.49 and a 12-month high of $35.58. The company has a market cap of $14.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.81 and a beta of 0.97.

News (NASDAQ:NWS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $2.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.30 billion. News had a net margin of 13.35% and a return on equity of 5.94%. On average, equities analysts expect that News will post 1.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

News Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 11th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a yield of 73.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 11th. News’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.85%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On News

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of News by 15.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,163,392 shares of the company’s stock valued at $301,141,000 after buying an additional 1,344,287 shares in the last quarter. L1 Capital Pty Ltd raised its stake in shares of News by 26.2% during the fourth quarter. L1 Capital Pty Ltd now owns 4,273,704 shares of the company’s stock worth $126,630,000 after acquiring an additional 886,156 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of News by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,728,263 shares of the company’s stock worth $110,314,000 after acquiring an additional 124,871 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of News by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,960,509 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,733,000 after purchasing an additional 7,675 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can grew its holdings in shares of News by 2,991.9% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 1,947,039 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,691,000 after purchasing an additional 1,884,066 shares during the last quarter. 14.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

News Company Profile

News Corporation (NASDAQ: NWS) is a global media and information services company engaged in news and digital real estate, book publishing and other media businesses. The company’s operations include print and digital newsbrands, business and financial information services, consumer platforms for property listings, and a major book publishing arm. Through its subsidiaries and brands, News Corp produces news content, market and financial reporting, online real-estate marketplaces and trade and consumer publishing products.

Key areas of activity include news and information, where the company publishes national and regional newspapers and operates business information services; book publishing through a well-known global publisher; and property-related digital businesses that operate online marketplaces for real estate listings.