Nexstar Media Group’s (NXST) “Buy” Rating Reaffirmed at Benchmark

Benchmark reiterated their buy rating on shares of Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST) in a research report released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $225.00 target price on the stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Barrington Research restated an outperform rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Nexstar Media Group in a research note on Thursday, May 9th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Nexstar Media Group from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and increased their price target for the company from $190.00 to $221.00 in a research report on Monday, May 13th. Rosenblatt Securities cut their price objective on shares of Nexstar Media Group from $216.00 to $213.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, Loop Capital raised shares of Nexstar Media Group to a strong-buy rating in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $206.00.

Nexstar Media Group Trading Up 2.3 %

NASDAQ NXST opened at $155.38 on Thursday. Nexstar Media Group has a one year low of $132.30 and a one year high of $187.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.85, a quick ratio of 1.80 and a current ratio of 1.80. The company has a market capitalization of $5.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 1.48. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $161.81 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $163.69.

Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 9th. The company reported $5.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.28 by $0.88. The company had revenue of $1.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.29 billion. Nexstar Media Group had a net margin of 8.29% and a return on equity of 17.18%. Nexstar Media Group’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.97 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Nexstar Media Group will post 27.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nexstar Media Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th were paid a dividend of $1.69 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $6.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.35%. Nexstar Media Group’s payout ratio is currently 57.19%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Lee Ann Gliha sold 326 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.00, for a total value of $52,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 5,462 shares in the company, valued at approximately $873,920. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Dennis J. Fitzsimons sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.82, for a total value of $341,640.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 12,027 shares in the company, valued at $2,054,452.14. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Lee Ann Gliha sold 326 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.00, for a total transaction of $52,160.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 5,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $873,920. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 8,826 shares of company stock valued at $1,422,237 over the last ninety days. 5.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nexstar Media Group

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Nexstar Media Group by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 4,066 shares of the company’s stock valued at $637,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC grew its position in shares of Nexstar Media Group by 20.3% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 420 shares of the company’s stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the period. Granite Group Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Nexstar Media Group by 5.1% during the first quarter. Granite Group Advisors LLC now owns 1,489 shares of the company’s stock worth $257,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its position in shares of Nexstar Media Group by 7.8% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,122 shares of the company’s stock worth $176,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its stake in Nexstar Media Group by 41.1% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 295 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.30% of the company’s stock.

About Nexstar Media Group

Nexstar Media Group, Inc operates as a diversified media company that produces and distributes engaging local and national news, sports and entertainment content across the television and digital platforms in the United States. It owns, operates, programs, or provides sales and other services to various markets; and offers television programming services.