Short Interest in The New York Times Company (NYSE:NYT) Decreases By 16.8%

The New York Times Company (NYSE:NYT) was the target of a large drop in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,250,000 shares, a drop of 16.8% from the March 31st total of 5,110,000 shares. Currently, 2.7% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,250,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.4 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NYT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup started coverage on New York Times in a report on Tuesday, March 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $52.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com raised shares of New York Times from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. Finally, Argus raised New York Times from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $51.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, March 4th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.67.

Insider Activity

In other New York Times news, CEO Levien Meredith A. Kopit sold 13,543 shares of New York Times stock in a transaction on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.11, for a total value of $597,381.73. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 90,759 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,003,379.49. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Diane Brayton sold 7,000 shares of New York Times stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.84, for a total transaction of $299,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 39,312 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,684,126.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Levien Meredith A. Kopit sold 13,543 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.11, for a total transaction of $597,381.73. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 90,759 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,003,379.49. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 23,557 shares of company stock worth $1,029,968. Corporate insiders own 2.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of NYT. Northstar Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of New York Times during the fourth quarter worth about $218,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of New York Times in the third quarter valued at $578,000. Trillium Asset Management LLC grew its stake in New York Times by 16.4% during the 3rd quarter. Trillium Asset Management LLC now owns 148,723 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,127,000 after purchasing an additional 20,941 shares in the last quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. increased its holdings in New York Times by 17.1% during the 3rd quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. now owns 756,812 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,181,000 after purchasing an additional 110,706 shares during the period. Finally, Baillie Gifford & Co. boosted its stake in shares of New York Times by 9.7% in the 3rd quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 922,490 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,007,000 after buying an additional 81,217 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.37% of the company’s stock.

New York Times Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of NYT traded down $0.61 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $43.05. The company had a trading volume of 1,271,058 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,264,230. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $43.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $44.78. The stock has a market cap of $7.06 billion, a PE ratio of 30.97 and a beta of 1.01. New York Times has a 1-year low of $35.06 and a 1-year high of $49.87.

New York Times (NYSE:NYT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The company reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $676.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $680.02 million. New York Times had a net margin of 9.58% and a return on equity of 16.48%. New York Times’s quarterly revenue was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.65 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that New York Times will post 1.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

New York Times Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 2nd were issued a $0.13 dividend. This is a positive change from New York Times’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 1st. New York Times’s payout ratio is 37.41%.

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.