Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA) Earns Buy Rating from Benchmark

Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by stock analysts at Benchmark in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $19.00 price objective on the stock. Benchmark’s price target points to a potential upside of 70.34% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on PARA. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Paramount Global in a research report on Thursday. StockNews.com raised shares of Paramount Global from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Macquarie restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $10.00 price target on shares of Paramount Global in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Paramount Global from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $12.58.

Paramount Global Stock Performance

PARA traded down $0.07 on Thursday, hitting $11.15. The company had a trading volume of 4,232,070 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,941,316. Paramount Global has a 1-year low of $9.54 and a 1-year high of $14.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $10.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $10.73. The stock has a market cap of $7.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.69.

Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported ($0.11) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by ($0.29). The firm had revenue of $7.98 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.07 billion. Paramount Global had a negative net margin of 18.89% and a positive return on equity of 5.81%. Equities analysts predict that Paramount Global will post 1.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Paramount Global by 16.2% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,394,825 shares of the company’s stock worth $78,533,000 after purchasing an additional 1,030,592 shares in the last quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP increased its holdings in shares of Paramount Global by 50.7% during the third quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 328,099 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,484,000 after buying an additional 110,357 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Paramount Global by 824.1% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 195,690 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,029,000 after buying an additional 174,514 shares in the last quarter. Wilsey Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Paramount Global by 16.2% in the fourth quarter. Wilsey Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,902,332 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,898,000 after acquiring an additional 265,408 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Paramount Global by 22.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 683,401 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,258,000 after acquiring an additional 124,740 shares during the last quarter. 73.00% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Paramount Global Company Profile

Paramount Global operates as a media, streaming, and entertainment company worldwide. It operates through TV Media, Direct-to-Consumer, and Filmed Entertainment segments. The TV Media segment operates CBS Television Network, a domestic broadcast television network; CBS Stations, a television station; and international free-to-air networks comprising Network 10, Channel 5, Telefe, and Chilevisión; domestic premium and basic cable networks, such as Paramount+ with Showtime, MTV, Comedy Central, Paramount Network, The Smithsonian Channel, Nickelodeon, BET Media Group, and CBS Sports Network; and international extensions of these brands.