Allstate Corp Invests $286,000 in News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA)

Allstate Corp acquired a new stake in shares of News Co. (NASDAQ:NWSA) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 10,367 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $286,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,005 shares in the last quarter. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. purchased a new stake in News during the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in News during the 4th quarter valued at about $49,000. 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, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in News in the third quarter worth about $85,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.97% of the company’s stock.

News Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:NWSA opened at $27.06 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $28.10 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $27.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.07 and a beta of 1.34. 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.

News (NASDAQ:NWSA) last announced its 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 net margin of 4.22% and a return on equity of 5.31%. Analysts expect that News Co. will post 0.94 EPS for the current year.

News Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be issued a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.48%. News’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.40%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on NWSA shares. Guggenheim raised their price target on shares of News from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded News to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup initiated coverage on News in a research report on Friday, January 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $36.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com raised News from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Loop Capital dropped their price target on shares of News from $44.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average 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.