Regal Partners Ltd Increases Stake in News Corporation $NWS

Regal Partners Ltd increased its position in shares of News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWS) by 218.8% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 199,015 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 136,590 shares during the quarter. News comprises approximately 0.5% of Regal Partners Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest position. Regal Partners Ltd’s holdings in News were worth $6,876,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of News by 23.1% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,819,105 shares of the company’s stock worth $304,700,000 after buying an additional 1,657,727 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in News by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,960,509 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,733,000 after acquiring an additional 7,675 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of News by 2.6% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 846,279 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,036,000 after purchasing an additional 21,638 shares during the last quarter. Metropolis Capital Ltd boosted its stake in shares of News by 11.9% during the third quarter. Metropolis Capital Ltd now owns 766,116 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,469,000 after purchasing an additional 81,387 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of News by 14.1% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 661,412 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,852,000 after purchasing an additional 81,986 shares during the last quarter. 14.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

News Trading Up 2.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:NWS opened at $27.70 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $15.38 billion, a PE ratio of 13.65 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a current ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 1.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. News Corporation has a 12-month low of $25.49 and a 12-month high of $35.58. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $28.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $30.17.

News (NASDAQ:NWS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.15. News had a return on equity of 5.94% and a net margin of 13.35%.The company had revenue of $2.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.30 billion. As a group, equities research analysts predict that News Corporation will post 1.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

News Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 11th will be issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 73.0%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 11th. News’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.85%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on NWS shares. Zacks Research raised shares of News from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of News from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy”.

News Company Profile

News Corporation (NASDAQ: NWS) is a global media and information services company engaged in news and digital real estate, book publishing and other media businesses. The company’s operations include print and digital newsbrands, business and financial information services, consumer platforms for property listings, and a major book publishing arm. Through its subsidiaries and brands, News Corp produces news content, market and financial reporting, online real-estate marketplaces and trade and consumer publishing products.

Key areas of activity include news and information, where the company publishes national and regional newspapers and operates business information services; book publishing through a well-known global publisher; and property-related digital businesses that operate online marketplaces for real estate listings.