The New York Times Company (NYSE:NYT) Stake Reduced by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of The New York Times Company (NYSE:NYT) by 1.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 373,943 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,410 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in New York Times were worth $19,464,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Baillie Gifford & Co. boosted its holdings in New York Times by 228.3% during the fourth quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 2,536,795 shares of the company’s stock worth $132,040,000 after buying an additional 1,764,078 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its stake in shares of New York Times by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 507,888 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,436,000 after acquiring an additional 6,793 shares in the last quarter. Figure 8 Investment Strategies LLC acquired a new position in shares of New York Times in the 4th quarter worth $492,000. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in shares of New York Times by 37.1% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 129,988 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,766,000 after acquiring an additional 35,189 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Portfolio Design Labs LLC acquired a new stake in shares of New York Times during the fourth quarter worth $202,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.37% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NYT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded New York Times from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of New York Times from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of New York Times from $56.00 to $54.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of New York Times from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $54.71.

New York Times Stock Performance

NYT stock opened at $48.05 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $7.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.01. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $52.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $53.75. The New York Times Company has a 52 week low of $41.55 and a 52 week high of $58.16.

New York Times (NYSE:NYT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.06. New York Times had a net margin of 11.36% and a return on equity of 18.51%. Sell-side analysts predict that The New York Times Company will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

New York Times Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be given a $0.18 dividend. This is a positive change from New York Times’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.50%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. New York Times’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.45%.

About New York Times

The New York Times Company, together with its subsidiaries, creates, collects, and distributes news and information worldwide. The company operates through two segments, The New York Times Group and The Athletic. It offers The New York Times (The Times) through company’s mobile application, website, printed newspaper, and associated content, such as podcast.