Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA) Trading 3.8% Higher – Time to Buy?

Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA) shares rose 3.8% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $11.66 and last traded at $11.62. Approximately 4,886,859 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 67% from the average daily volume of 14,620,234 shares. The stock had previously closed at $11.19.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on PARA. Macquarie reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $10.00 target price on shares of Paramount Global in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Guggenheim lowered their price target on Paramount Global from $19.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Paramount Global in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Paramount Global from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $12.43.

Paramount Global Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market cap of $7.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.36, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.71. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $10.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $10.86.

Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA) last posted its earnings results on Friday, November 8th. The company reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.25. Paramount Global had a negative net margin of 18.89% and a positive return on equity of 5.81%. The firm had revenue of $6.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.94 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.30 EPS. Paramount Global’s quarterly revenue was down 5.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Paramount Global will post 1.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paramount Global Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a $0.05 dividend. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. Paramount Global’s dividend payout ratio is currently -2.43%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Paramount Global by 18.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 44,154,027 shares of the company’s stock valued at $470,695,000 after buying an additional 6,848,037 shares during the period. Lingotto Investment Management LLP raised its holdings in shares of Paramount Global by 628.8% in the 2nd quarter. Lingotto Investment Management LLP now owns 29,937,007 shares of the company’s stock worth $311,046,000 after purchasing an additional 25,829,185 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Paramount Global by 12.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,842,966 shares of the company’s stock valued at $157,168,000 after purchasing an additional 1,606,779 shares during the last quarter. Ariel Investments LLC grew its position in Paramount Global by 16.5% in the second quarter. Ariel Investments LLC now owns 14,042,265 shares of the company’s stock worth $145,899,000 after buying an additional 1,992,576 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Paramount Global by 16.2% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,394,825 shares of the company’s stock valued at $78,533,000 after buying an additional 1,030,592 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.00% of the company’s stock.

Paramount Global Company Profile

Paramount Global operates as a media, streaming, and entertainment company worldwide. It operates through TV Media, Direct-to-Consumer, and Filmed Entertainment segments. The TV Media segment operates CBS Television Network, a domestic broadcast television network; CBS Stations, a television station; and international free-to-air networks comprising Network 10, Channel 5, Telefe, and Chilevisión; domestic premium and basic cable networks, such as Paramount+ with Showtime, MTV, Comedy Central, Paramount Network, The Smithsonian Channel, Nickelodeon, BET Media Group, and CBS Sports Network; and international extensions of these brands.