The New York Times Company (NYSE:NYT) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

The New York Times Company (NYSE:NYT) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in February. As of February 13th, there was short interest totaling 9,683,104 shares, an increase of 19.6% from the January 29th total of 8,098,155 shares. Approximately 6.1% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 4,192,907 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.3 days. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 4,192,907 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.3 days. Approximately 6.1% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on NYT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of New York Times from $71.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley set a $68.00 price target on shares of New York Times in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating on shares of New York Times in a report on Thursday, February 5th. UBS Group set a $62.00 target price on New York Times in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of New York Times in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $68.43.

Insider Transactions at New York Times

In other New York Times news, CAO R Anthony Benten sold 1,913 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.57, for a total value of $140,739.41. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 37,772 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,778,886.04. The trade was a 4.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On New York Times

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in New York Times by 35.3% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,241,489 shares of the company’s stock valued at $433,284,000 after purchasing an additional 1,628,200 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of New York Times by 9.3% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,211,824 shares of the company’s stock worth $361,805,000 after buying an additional 441,851 shares in the last quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc bought a new stake in shares of New York Times in the fourth quarter valued at about $351,664,000. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of New York Times by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,027,198 shares of the company’s stock valued at $348,988,000 after acquiring an additional 116,012 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of New York Times by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,922,565 shares of the company’s stock valued at $272,347,000 after acquiring an additional 50,389 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.37% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting New York Times

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

• Positive Sentiment: High-engagement election and interactive coverage is driving traffic and subscriber opportunities — the Times published multiple live/interactive results pages across key primaries and special elections (Texas, North Carolina, Massachusetts), which typically boost pageviews, ad impressions and subscriber acquisition during big political events. Texas 28th Primary Results Massachusetts Special Results
• Positive Sentiment: Investor-facing messaging: management presented at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media & Telecom conference this week — presentations and the transcript provide analysts with updates on subscriber trends, product investment and monetization that can support multiple expansion if guidance/metrics look constructive. Conference Transcript
• Positive Sentiment: Underlying fundamentals remain supportive: the company recently reported quarter-over-quarter revenue and EPS growth with healthy digital subscriber trends (Q4 revenue and subscriber beats earlier this year), a structural tailwind for digital-first news publishers.
• Neutral Sentiment: Feature journalism and local stories (e.g., a Los Angeles graffiti-covered skyscraper sale) maintain engagement but have limited direct impact on near-term revenue. Graffiti-Covered Los Angeles Skyscrapers Find a Buyer
• Negative Sentiment: Widening Iran conflict is driving market volatility and an energy price spike; Asian markets plunged on energy fears, which is creating a risk-off tone that can pressure media stocks despite higher news consumption. Markets in Asia Plummet Oil and Natural Gas Rally
• Negative Sentiment: Persistent geopolitical headlines (detailed war coverage, casualties and military updates) create uncertainty for ad markets and corporate budgets; advertisers can cut or pause campaigns during sustained geopolitical shocks, which pressures near-term ad revenue despite higher traffic. These American Service Members Died in the Iran Conflict

New York Times Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of NYT traded down $0.37 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $81.04. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,102,560 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,377,472. New York Times has a 1-year low of $44.83 and a 1-year high of $81.84. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $72.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $64.70. The stock has a market cap of $13.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.78, a PEG ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.09.

New York Times (NYSE:NYT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.01. New York Times had a return on equity of 21.02% and a net margin of 12.18%.The business had revenue of $802.31 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $791.55 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.80 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that New York Times will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

New York Times Increases Dividend

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

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.