Teacher Retirement System of Texas Grows Stock Holdings in News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its stake in News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA) by 9.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 170,634 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 15,294 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in News were worth $4,699,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ballentine Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of News by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 11,576 shares of the company’s stock worth $319,000 after acquiring an additional 422 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. boosted its stake in News by 18.5% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 3,334 shares of the company’s stock worth $92,000 after purchasing an additional 521 shares in the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC grew its position in News by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 12,518 shares of the company’s stock valued at $345,000 after purchasing an additional 533 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in News by 49.7% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,989 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 660 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pathstone Holdings LLC raised its holdings in News by 1.2% in the third quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 60,509 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,612,000 after buying an additional 730 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 66.97% of the company’s stock.

News Stock Performance

Shares of NWSA opened at $27.04 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.04 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 1.65. News Co. has a one year low of $22.65 and a one year high of $30.69. The business has a fifty day moving average of $28.17 and a 200 day moving average of $27.77.

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

News Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.48%. News’s payout ratio is presently 27.40%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on NWSA. UBS Group raised shares of News from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Citigroup began coverage on News in a report on Friday, January 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $36.00 target price for the company. Loop Capital lowered their price target on News from $44.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded News from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of News to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $39.25.

About News

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.