CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co Acquires 2,418 Shares of News Co. (NASDAQ:NWS)

CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co grew its stake in News Co. (NASDAQ:NWS) by 15.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 18,292 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,418 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co’s holdings in News were worth $557,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of News by 101.0% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 496,926 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,889,000 after acquiring an additional 249,659 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of News by 72.1% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,478 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,000 after buying an additional 1,457 shares in the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of News by 16.8% during the 4th quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 5,043 shares of the company’s stock worth $153,000 after acquiring an additional 727 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of News by 28.5% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,790 shares of the company’s stock valued at $237,000 after acquiring an additional 1,729 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in News by 1.9% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 137,034 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,830,000 after purchasing an additional 2,609 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 14.63% of the company’s stock.

News Stock Performance

News stock opened at $31.32 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.90 and a beta of 1.26. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $30.59 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $30.97. News Co. has a 52-week low of $23.99 and a 52-week high of $35.25. 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 (NASDAQ:NWS) last announced its quarterly 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, analysts anticipate that News Co. will post 1.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

News Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th were given a $0.10 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a yield of 0.6%. News’s payout ratio is 27.40%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.