Fox Co. (NASDAQ:FOX) Short Interest Up 39.1% in September

Fox Co. (NASDAQ:FOX) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,950,000 shares, a growth of 39.1% from the August 31st total of 2,840,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 933,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.2 days. Currently, 3.0% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Seaport Res Ptn downgraded FOX from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th.

FOX Stock Up 0.4 %

NASDAQ FOX traded up $0.17 on Friday, hitting $38.84. 474,800 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,127,004. FOX has a fifty-two week low of $25.82 and a fifty-two week high of $39.09. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $36.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $32.61. The company has a quick ratio of 2.33, a current ratio of 2.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The company has a market cap of $18.13 billion, a PE ratio of 12.18, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.81.

FOX (NASDAQ:FOX) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.87 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $3.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.10 billion. FOX had a return on equity of 15.57% and a net margin of 10.74%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.88 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that FOX will post 3.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FOX Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 25th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 4th were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This is a positive change from FOX’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.78%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 4th. FOX’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.93%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Lachlan K. Murdoch purchased 119,705 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $39.06 per share, for a total transaction of $4,675,677.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,076,407 shares in the company, valued at $42,044,457.42. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Lachlan K. Murdoch acquired 119,705 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $39.06 per share, with a total value of $4,675,677.30. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 1,076,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,044,457.42. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO John Nallen sold 52,874 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.96, for a total value of $2,059,971.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 249,424 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,717,559.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 19.21% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On FOX

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of FOX by 692.1% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,410 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 1,232 shares during the last quarter. Friedenthal Financial purchased a new position in shares of FOX during the second quarter worth about $51,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its position in FOX by 20.8% in the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 3,391 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,000 after acquiring an additional 585 shares during the period. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division purchased a new stake in FOX during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $97,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of FOX by 267.9% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,528 shares of the company’s stock worth $113,000 after purchasing an additional 2,569 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.41% of the company’s stock.

About FOX

Fox Corporation operates as a news, sports, and entertainment company in the United States (U.S.). The company operates through Cable Network Programming; Television; and Other, Corporate and Eliminations segments. The Cable Network Programming segment produces and licenses news, business news, and sports content for distribution through traditional cable television systems, direct broadcast satellite operators, and telecommunication companies, virtual multi-channel video programming distributors, and other digital platforms primarily in the U.S.