The Madison Square Garden Company (NYSE:MSGS) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

The Madison Square Garden Company (NYSE:MSGS) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 918,944 shares, an increase of 21.3% from the March 15th total of 757,484 shares. Approximately 4.7% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 264,573 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.5 days.

Madison Square Garden Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of NYSE MSGS opened at $335.05 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $315.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $267.88. The company has a market cap of $8.06 billion, a P/E ratio of -485.58 and a beta of 0.59. Madison Square Garden has a 12-month low of $183.58 and a 12-month high of $345.48.

Madison Square Garden (NYSE:MSGS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.66 by ($0.32). The business had revenue of $403.42 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $394.58 million. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.05 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Madison Square Garden will post 0.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on MSGS. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Madison Square Garden in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Susquehanna increased their price objective on Madison Square Garden from $356.00 to $388.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Wall Street Zen raised Madison Square Garden from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 14th. Seaport Research Partners raised Madison Square Garden from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $430.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Madison Square Garden from $240.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Madison Square Garden currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $312.80.

Insider Buying and Selling at Madison Square Garden

In other news, Director Charles P. Dolan sold 5,659 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 20th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $141,488.10. This represents a 92.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 19.07% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Madison Square Garden by 11.8% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 117,905 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,764,000 after purchasing an additional 12,412 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Madison Square Garden by 30.6% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 15,776 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,581,000 after purchasing an additional 3,700 shares during the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. boosted its stake in Madison Square Garden by 294.7% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 39,718 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,016,000 after acquiring an additional 29,656 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc bought a new position in Madison Square Garden during the third quarter worth $2,052,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in Madison Square Garden by 65,330.8% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 8,506 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,931,000 after acquiring an additional 8,493 shares in the last quarter. 68.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Madison Square Garden Company Profile

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.