Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA – Get Rating) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the twenty-four research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have issued a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $21.86.

Several research firms have commented on PARA. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Paramount Global from $15.00 to $14.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 19th. Macquarie cut shares of Paramount Global from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $15.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, January 31st. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of Paramount Global from $20.00 to $22.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 12th. Credit Suisse Group boosted their price objective on shares of Paramount Global from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 17th. Finally, Loop Capital cut shares of Paramount Global from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $30.00 to $14.00 in a research note on Friday, December 23rd.

Paramount Global Stock Performance

Paramount Global stock opened at $19.70 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $21.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $20.17. Paramount Global has a fifty-two week low of $15.29 and a fifty-two week high of $39.21. The company has a market cap of $12.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 1.11.

Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 16th. The company reported $0.08 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by ($0.10). Paramount Global had a net margin of 3.66% and a return on equity of 5.03%. The company had revenue of $8.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.16 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.26 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Paramount Global will post 0.65 EPS for the current year.

Paramount Global Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 20th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 17th. Paramount Global’s payout ratio is 60.00%.

Institutional Trading of Paramount Global

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PARA. Money Concepts Capital Corp acquired a new position in shares of Paramount Global in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Ellevest Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Paramount Global during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. General Partner Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Paramount Global during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. bought a new stake in Paramount Global in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Annapolis Financial Services LLC boosted its stake in Paramount Global by 404.9% in the 4th quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC now owns 1,641 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 1,316 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 74.13% of the company’s stock.

About Paramount Global

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Paramount Global operates as a mass media company, which creates and distributes content across a variety of platforms to audiences around the world. It operates its business through the following segments: Entertainment, Cable Networks, Publishing, and Local Media. The Entertainment segment is composed of the CBS Television Network, CBS Television Studios, CBS Studios International, CBS Television Distribution, CBS Interactive, and CBS Films, as well as the company’s digital streaming services, CBS All Access and CBSN.