Shareholders of Rupert Murdoch’s company urged to “sell”

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Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation

shares are falling

Shareholders warned

“underperform” or “sell”

SYDNEY – Shares in Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation are falling as more allegations emerge in the phone hacking scandal engulfing its British newspaper empire.

The widening crisis has prompted Australia’s Macquarie Bank analysts to slap an ‘‘underperform’’, or sell, rating on News Corp, warning the company faces regulatory risks in both in Britain and the U.S. News Corp shares shed 73 cents, or 4.6 per cent, to close at $15.19, following a 5 per cent fall yesterday.

Rupert Murdoch could face U.S. investigation as to whether he is a “fit and proper person” to hold U.S. television licenses.

In a note to clients, Macquarie analyst Alex Pollak cut his valuation of News Corp by 18 per cent, ‘‘on the basis of high level regulatory uncertainty in the UK and US’’.

The company may face the risk of an investigation into whether it is a ‘‘fit and proper’’ person to hold US TV licenses, Mr Pollak added.

This would be in addition to investigations already underway by regulators and police in the UK into phone hacking at weekly tabloid News of the World, which printed its last edition on Sunday as Mr Murdoch scrambled to limit fallout from the crisis.

‘‘The possibility of class actions by the estimated 4000 victims of phone hacking, along with News of the World journalists not involved in hacking, is real,’’ Mr Pollak said.

It might look pretty Mr. Murdoch, but . . .