Nielsen (NLSN) Misses Q4 Revenue Estimates

Nielsen N.V. (NLSN) shares are down 0.40% to $43.53 in mid-day trading Thursday after the company reported fourth quarter earnings results.

The media and marketing firm reported earnings of $0.81 per share on revenues of $1.63 billion, up 1.4% from a year ago. Analysts were expecting EPS of $0.80 on revenues of $1.65 billion. Adjusted Q4 net income increased 12.8% to $309 million, or 18.8% on a yoy constant currency basis. Adjusted net income per share on a diluted basis was $0.81 compared to $0.71 in the fourth quarter of 2013.

“We are well positioned to drive incremental shareholder value as we lead the media industry toward Total Audience measurement, continue our expansion in emerging markets, and execute on our previously announced plans to deliver close to $1.6 billion back to shareholders in the form of dividends and buybacks by mid-2016,” said in a statement Mitch Barns, Chief Executive Officer of Nielsen.

On valuation measures, Nielsen N.V. shares, which currently have an average 3-month trading volume of 3,1 million shares, trade at a trailing-12 P/E of 45.77, a forward P/E of 15.60 and a P/E to growth ratio of 0.97. The median Wall Street price target on the name is $50.00 with a high target of $56.00. Currently ticker boasts just 14 ‘Buy’ endorsements, compared to 3 tepid ’Holds’ and No ‘Sell’.

Profitability-wise, NLSN has a t-12 profit and operating margin of 5.87% and 17.86%, respectively. The $16.60B market cap company reported $369.00M in cash vs. $6.63B in debt in its most recent quarter.

NLSN currently prints a one year loss of 0.82% and a year-to-date loss of 2.28%.

The chart below shows where the equity has traded over the last 52 weeks.

Nielsen N.V. provides media and marketing information, analytics, and industry expertise about what consumers watch and listen. The company was founded in 1923 and is headquartered in Diemen, the Netherlands.

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