Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST) Downgraded to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Tuesday morning.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on Nexstar Media Group from $207.00 to $205.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Nexstar Media Group from $221.00 to $209.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Barrington Research reaffirmed an outperform rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Nexstar Media Group in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Benchmark reissued a buy rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Nexstar Media Group in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Nexstar Media Group has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $201.67.

Nexstar Media Group Trading Up 1.5 %

NXST stock opened at $169.02 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $170.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $165.64. Nexstar Media Group has a fifty-two week low of $132.30 and a fifty-two week high of $187.27. The firm has a market cap of $5.57 billion, a PE ratio of 14.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.18 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.92, a quick ratio of 1.78 and a current ratio of 1.78.

Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $3.54 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.48 by ($0.94). The business had revenue of $1.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.28 billion. Nexstar Media Group had a return on equity of 18.65% and a net margin of 8.68%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.64 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Nexstar Media Group will post 25.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nexstar Media Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th were paid a dividend of $1.69 per share. This represents a $6.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 9th. Nexstar Media Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Nexstar Media Group news, Director D Geoffrey Armstrong sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.38, for a total value of $332,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 7,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,206,255. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, Director D Geoffrey Armstrong sold 2,000 shares of Nexstar Media Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.38, for a total transaction of $332,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 7,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,206,255. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Lee Ann Gliha sold 984 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $157.63, for a total value of $155,107.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 8,107 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,277,906.41. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 17,644 shares of company stock valued at $2,936,760 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 5.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Nexstar Media Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in NXST. Granite Group Advisors LLC increased its position in Nexstar Media Group by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. Granite Group Advisors LLC now owns 1,489 shares of the company’s stock valued at $257,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the period. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its stake in Nexstar Media Group by 41.1% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 295 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in Nexstar Media Group by 0.6% during the second quarter. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. now owns 13,903 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,308,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the period. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Nexstar Media Group by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 4,217 shares of the company’s stock valued at $700,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its holdings in shares of Nexstar Media Group by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 40,479 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,974,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares during the period. 95.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Nexstar Media Group Company Profile

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.