The Madison Square Garden Company (NYSE:MSGS) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of The Madison Square Garden Company (NYSE:MSGS) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the nine brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $286.00.

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Wolfe Research cut Madison Square Garden from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, December 15th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Madison Square Garden in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Madison Square Garden in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Madison Square Garden from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 14th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Madison Square Garden from $290.00 to $337.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th.

Insider Transactions at Madison Square Garden

In other news, Director Charles P. Dolan sold 5,659 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $325.26, for a total value of $1,840,646.34. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 435 shares in the company, valued at $141,488.10. The trade was a 92.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 19.07% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Madison Square Garden

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MSGS. Salomon & Ludwin LLC grew its position in Madison Square Garden by 33.1% in the fourth quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 157 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP boosted its holdings in shares of Madison Square Garden by 26.5% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 196 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Cibc World Market Inc. increased its position in shares of Madison Square Garden by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 1,924 shares of the company’s stock valued at $498,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its holdings in Madison Square Garden by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,746 shares of the company’s stock valued at $452,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. Finally, Independent Advisor Alliance lifted its position in Madison Square Garden by 2.7% in the third quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 1,765 shares of the company’s stock worth $401,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. 68.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Madison Square Garden Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:MSGS opened at $315.93 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.60 billion, a PE ratio of -457.87 and a beta of 0.61. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $279.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $238.36. Madison Square Garden has a twelve month low of $173.26 and a twelve month high of $345.46.

Madison Square Garden (NYSE:MSGS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by ($0.32). The business had revenue of $403.42 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $394.58 million. The company’s revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.05 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Madison Square Garden will post 0.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Madison Square Garden

Madison Square Garden Sports Corp (NYSE: MSGS) is a leading sports and entertainment holding company focused on professional sports franchises and related media assets. The company owns and operates teams such as the NBA’s New York Knicks, the NHL’s New York Rangers and the WNBA’s New York Liberty. Through these flagship franchises, MSG Sports offers a range of products and services including ticketing, premium seating and sponsorship opportunities, targeting fans in the New York metropolitan area and beyond.

In addition to team operations, Madison Square Garden Sports Corp holds a majority stake in MSG Networks, a regional cable network that broadcasts live sporting events, news and original programming.