Royal Bank of Canada Decreases Position in News Corporation $NWS

Royal Bank of Canada decreased its position in News Corporation (NASDAQ:NWS) by 30.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 62,720 shares of the company’s stock after selling 28,104 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada’s holdings in News were worth $1,787,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Hartford Investment Management Co. increased its position in News by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Hartford Investment Management Co. now owns 7,212 shares of the company’s stock worth $214,000 after buying an additional 369 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of News by 5.3% during the 1st quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 7,623 shares of the company’s stock valued at $217,000 after buying an additional 384 shares during the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co grew its stake in shares of News by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 19,333 shares of the company’s stock worth $664,000 after acquiring an additional 435 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in News by 11.0% in the 4th quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 4,454 shares of the company’s stock worth $133,000 after acquiring an additional 440 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its stake in News by 5.6% in the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 10,449 shares of the company’s stock valued at $359,000 after acquiring an additional 554 shares during the period. 14.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

News Stock Up 2.5%

NWS stock opened at $33.49 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $30.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $29.41. News Corporation has a twelve month low of $25.49 and a twelve month high of $35.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.12 billion, a PE ratio of 32.51 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 1.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22.

News (NASDAQ:NWS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $2.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.25 billion. News had a net margin of 6.35% and a return on equity of 7.09%. On average, equities analysts predict that News Corporation will post 1.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

News Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 9th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 60.0%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 9th. News’s payout ratio is 19.42%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NWS has been the subject of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of News from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Zacks Research cut shares of News from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, News has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

About News

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.