Inspire Advisors LLC Grows Position in News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA)

Inspire Advisors LLC increased its position in News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA) by 12.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 22,345 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,403 shares during the quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC’s holdings in News were worth $615,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its stake in News by 2,392.9% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,047 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 1,005 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in News during the third quarter valued at $39,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in News during the fourth quarter valued at $49,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in News by 49.7% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,989 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 660 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in News during the third quarter valued at $85,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.97% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on News from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Loop Capital decreased their price target on News from $44.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Citigroup initiated coverage on News in a research note on Friday, January 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $36.00 price target for the company. Seaport Res Ptn raised News to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, UBS Group raised News from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, News currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $39.25.

News Stock Performance

NASDAQ:NWSA opened at $26.94 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $28.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $27.83. News Co. has a 52-week low of $22.65 and a 52-week high of $30.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a current ratio of 1.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.29 billion, a PE ratio of 36.90 and a beta of 1.34.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.04. News had a return on equity of 5.31% and a net margin of 4.22%. Analysts forecast that News Co. will post 0.94 EPS for the current year.

News Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.48%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th. News’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.40%.

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 through six segments: Digital Real Estate Services, Subscription Video Services, Dow Jones, Book Publishing, News Media, and Other.