The New York Times Company (NYSE:NYT) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

The New York Times Company (NYSE:NYT) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the five analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $56.00.

Several brokerages have recently commented on NYT. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price 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. StockNews.com raised shares of New York Times from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th.

New York Times Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYT opened at $47.79 on Friday. New York Times has a 12 month low of $41.55 and a 12 month high of $58.16. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $50.60 and its 200-day moving average is $53.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.80 billion, a PE ratio of 26.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.18.

New York Times (NYSE:NYT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.06. New York Times had a net margin of 11.36% and a return on equity of 18.51%. Equities research analysts predict that New York Times will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

New York Times Increases Dividend

The business 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. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.51%. This is a positive change from New York Times’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. New York Times’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 40.45%.

Institutional Trading of New York Times

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Baillie Gifford & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,764,078 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC lifted its holdings in shares of New York Times by 210.5% during the fourth quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 1,382,695 shares of the company’s stock worth $71,969,000 after purchasing an additional 937,354 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of New York Times by 133.6% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,559,837 shares of the company’s stock worth $81,190,000 after purchasing an additional 892,155 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of New York Times by 87.6% during the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,908,477 shares of the company’s stock worth $99,336,000 after purchasing an additional 891,249 shares during the period. Finally, Darsana Capital Partners LP lifted its holdings in shares of New York Times by 15.0% during the fourth quarter. Darsana Capital Partners LP now owns 5,750,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $299,288,000 after purchasing an additional 750,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.37% of the company’s stock.

New York Times Company Profile

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.