Citigroup Inc. Buys 14,148 Shares of The New York Times Company $NYT

Citigroup Inc. grew its stake in shares of The New York Times Company (NYSE:NYT) by 23.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 75,333 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 14,148 shares during the quarter. Citigroup Inc.’s holdings in New York Times were worth $4,324,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in NYT. Employees Retirement System of Texas purchased a new stake in New York Times during the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its position in New York Times by 4,591.7% during the second quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 563 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 551 shares during the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its position in New York Times by 519.6% in the second quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 570 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 478 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of New York Times by 86.8% during the 2nd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 710 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares during the period. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. purchased a new stake in shares of New York Times during the 3rd quarter valued at about $42,000. 95.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NYT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley set a $68.00 target price on shares of New York Times in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of New York Times in a report on Thursday, February 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on New York Times from $71.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Citigroup cut their price target on New York Times from $81.00 to $77.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on New York Times from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, New York Times presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $68.43.

Key Stories Impacting New York Times

Here are the key news stories impacting New York Times this week:

• Positive Sentiment: High-engagement election coverage — Multiple interactive state and congressional election result pages (Texas, North Carolina, Massachusetts and others) and related political analysis are live on NYT platforms; these drive real-time traffic and subscription sign-ups during election cycles. Massachusetts State Legislature Special Election Results
• Positive Sentiment: Breaking international coverage — In-depth reporting on the Iran conflict (including profiles of U.S. service-member casualties and analysis of drone/weapon costs) is likely increasing readership and subscriptions for premium coverage. These American Service Members Died in the Iran Conflict Iran’s Drones Cost a Fraction of the U.S. Weapons Shooting Them Down
• Neutral Sentiment: Investor outreach — NYT presented at the Morgan Stanley TMT conference (transcript released). Management presentations can clarify strategy (subscriptions, product, ad mix) but the transcript alone is neutral until it contains new guidance or material announcements. NYT Presents at Morgan Stanley TMT Conference (Transcript)
• Neutral Sentiment: Local/business features — Stories such as the sale of graffiti-covered L.A. skyscrapers provide niche real-estate/business coverage that supports diversified readership but are unlikely to move the stock materially. Graffiti-Covered Los Angeles Skyscrapers Find a Buyer
• Negative Sentiment: Macro pressure from energy and market volatility — Asia markets fell and oil/natural-gas prices rallied on Iran-related risk, creating broad market headwinds that can weigh on NYT’s ad revenue and overall stock multiple even as news traffic rises. Markets in Asia Plummet as Energy Fears Offset A.I. Optimism Oil and Natural Gas Prices Extend Rally as Iran Attacks Escalates

New York Times Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of New York Times stock opened at $81.04 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $13.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.78, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.09. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $72.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $64.82. The New York Times Company has a 52 week low of $44.83 and a 52 week high of $81.84.

New York Times (NYSE:NYT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.01. New York Times had a return on equity of 20.73% and a net margin of 12.18%.The company had revenue of $802.31 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $791.55 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.80 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that The New York Times Company will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

New York Times Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 16th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 1st. This is a positive change from New York Times’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. New York Times’s dividend payout ratio is 34.45%.

Insider Transactions at New York Times

In other news, CAO R Anthony Benten sold 1,913 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.57, for a total transaction of $140,739.41. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 37,772 shares in the company, valued at $2,778,886.04. This trade represents a 4.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

New York Times Company Profile

The New York Times Company is a publicly traded media organization best known for publishing The New York Times newspaper and operating the NYTimes.com digital platform. The company produces daily print and digital journalism covering national and international news, opinion pieces, feature stories, and multimedia content. Alongside its flagship newspaper, the firm offers a range of subscription-based services, including Times Cooking, NYT Games, podcasts and newsletters, designed to engage a broad audience of readers and advertisers.

Founded in 1851 by Henry Jarvis Raymond and George Jones, The New York Times has built a reputation for in-depth reporting and investigative journalism.