News Co. (NASDAQ:NWS) Short Interest Update

News Co. (NASDAQ:NWS) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,470,000 shares, an increase of 18.9% from the January 15th total of 3,760,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 796,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.6 days. Currently, 4.4% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Institutional Trading of News

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in NWS. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB raised its stake in News by 123.7% in the 4th quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 935 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 517 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in News by 136.3% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,217 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 702 shares during the last quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP purchased a new position in News in the 4th quarter worth $43,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of News by 253.3% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,021 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 1,449 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd raised its stake in shares of News by 2,892.8% during the 4th quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 2,065 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 1,996 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 14.63% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded News to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st.

News Stock Up 1.6 %

NASDAQ NWS traded up $0.56 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $34.86. 721,106 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 744,454. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The company has a market cap of $19.82 billion, a PE ratio of 47.75 and a beta of 1.38. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $31.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $29.90. News has a 52 week low of $23.99 and a 52 week high of $34.97.

News (NASDAQ:NWS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.34 by ($0.01). News had a net margin of 4.22% and a return on equity of 5.31%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that News will post 0.96 earnings per share for the current year.

News Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a dividend yield of 0.6%. News’s payout ratio 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.