News Co. (NASDAQ:NWS) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

News Co. (NASDAQ:NWS) saw a large decrease in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,430,000 shares, a decrease of 14.9% from the March 31st total of 4,030,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 738,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.6 days. Approximately 3.3% of the company’s stock are sold short.

News Stock Down 1.8 %

NASDAQ:NWS traded down $0.45 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $24.54. The company had a trading volume of 873,824 shares, compared to its average volume of 756,288. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $26.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $24.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 62.48 and a beta of 1.35. News has a 12-month low of $16.49 and a 12-month high of $28.92.

News (NASDAQ:NWS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The company reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter. The company had revenue of $2.59 billion during the quarter. News had a net margin of 2.29% and a return on equity of 4.14%.

News Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a Semi-Annual dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 13th were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 12th. This represents a yield of 0.7%. News’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.00%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On News

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in NWS. UBS Group AG boosted its stake in News by 49,135.5% during the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 614,951 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,834,000 after purchasing an additional 613,702 shares during the period. ING Groep NV grew its holdings in shares of News by 3,420.1% during the third quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 590,501 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,324,000 after buying an additional 573,726 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in News during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $7,919,000. Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of News by 85.3% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 508,722 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,616,000 after purchasing an additional 234,113 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new stake in shares of News during the third quarter worth $3,569,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 14.63% of the company’s stock.

News Company Profile

News Corporation, a media and information services company, creates and distributes authoritative and engaging content, and other products and services for consumers and businesses worldwide. It operates in six segments: Digital Real Estate Services, Subscription Video Services, Dow Jones, Book Publishing, News Media, and Other.