Madison Square Garden (NYSE:MSGS) Upgraded by Wall Street Zen to Hold Rating

Madison Square Garden (NYSE:MSGS) was upgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on MSGS. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Madison Square Garden in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Wolfe Research lowered Madison Square Garden from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, December 15th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Madison Square Garden from $290.00 to $337.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Madison Square Garden in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Madison Square Garden from $240.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Madison Square Garden currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $280.00.

Madison Square Garden Trading Up 4.8%

MSGS opened at $291.51 on Friday. Madison Square Garden has a 1-year low of $173.26 and a 1-year high of $298.97. The company has a market cap of $7.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -422.48 and a beta of 0.61. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $266.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $231.80.

Madison Square Garden (NYSE:MSGS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by ($0.32). The firm had revenue of $403.42 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $394.58 million. Madison Square Garden’s revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.05 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Madison Square Garden will post 0.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Madison Square Garden

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Reinhart Partners LLC. bought a new position in Madison Square Garden in the 4th quarter valued at $55,586,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Madison Square Garden during the 4th quarter worth $51,107,000. Bollard Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Madison Square Garden in the 2nd quarter worth about $25,283,000. Scopus Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in Madison Square Garden during the second quarter valued at about $14,787,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in Madison Square Garden by 1,021.4% during the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 48,333 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,099,000 after buying an additional 44,023 shares during the last quarter. 68.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Madison Square Garden

Madison Square Garden Sports Corp (NYSE: MSGS) is a leading sports and entertainment holding company focused on professional sports franchises and related media assets. The company owns and operates teams such as the NBA’s New York Knicks, the NHL’s New York Rangers and the WNBA’s New York Liberty. Through these flagship franchises, MSG Sports offers a range of products and services including ticketing, premium seating and sponsorship opportunities, targeting fans in the New York metropolitan area and beyond.

In addition to team operations, Madison Square Garden Sports Corp holds a majority stake in MSG Networks, a regional cable network that broadcasts live sporting events, news and original programming.