Market Update (NASDAQ:VIAB): Viacom names CEO Dauman as chair

[AAP] – Viacom Inc’s board of directors has named Chief Executive Officer Philippe Dauman as executive chairman, replacing majority owner Sumner Redstone, overriding calls for an independent board chief from Redstone’s daughter, who voted against Dauman. Viacom announced on Thursday that the ailing 92-year-old Redstone was becoming chairman emeritus, a day after CBS Corp said Redstone, also the CBS majority owner, was stepping down as executive chairman and being replaced by CEO Leslie Moonves. Read more on this. Viacom, Inc. (VIAB) , with a current market cap of $17.87B, started trading this morning at $47.00. A quick look at the market, the company’s stock traded between $44.28 and $47.47 and has traded between $36.32 and $73.52 over the past year. Viacom (VIAB) shares are currently priced at 7.76x this year’s forecasted earnings, which makes them relatively inexpensive compared to the industry ’s 19.31x earnings multiple for the same period. And for income investors, the company pays shareholders $1.60 per share annually in dividends, yielding 3.66%. According to a consensus of 33 analysts, the earnings estimate of $1.18 per share would be $0.11 worse than the year-ago quarter and a $0.24 sequential decrease. In looking at the bigger picture, the full-year EPS estimate of $5.76 would be a $0.32 better when compared to the previous year’s annual results. The quarterly earnings estimate is predicated on a consensus revenue forecast of $3.26 Billion. If reported, that would be a 2.40% decrease over the year-ago quarter. More recently, Barrington Research downgraded VIAB from Outperform to Mkt Perform (Jan 26, 2016). Previously, Societe Generale upgraded VIAB from Hold to Buy. When considering if perhaps the stock is under or overvalued, the average price target is $55.97, which is 19.09% above where the stock opened this morning. See more in (NASDAQ:VIAB) Similar Articles: Market Update: Viacom Inc (NASDAQ:VIAB) – Nickelodeon Greenlights First New Global Series to be Produced in the Viacom International Studios in Miami Market Update: Viacom Inc (NASDAQ:VIAB) – CBS, Viacom exec chair Redstone’s compensation cut in 2015-CNBC Company Update: Viacom Inc (NASDAQ:VIAB) – AT&T and Viacom agree to new satellite, Internet TV distribution deal