Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST) have been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the eight research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $198.50.

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on NXST. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Nexstar Media Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Nexstar Media Group in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Guggenheim decreased their price objective on shares of Nexstar Media Group from $200.00 to $198.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $215.00 target price on shares of Nexstar Media Group in a report on Friday. Finally, Loop Capital lowered shares of Nexstar Media Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $200.00 to $190.00 in a report on Friday.

Nexstar Media Group Stock Up 3.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ NXST opened at $171.01 on Thursday. Nexstar Media Group has a 52 week low of $140.92 and a 52 week high of $191.86. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $168.54 and its 200 day moving average is $167.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.92, a quick ratio of 1.78 and a current ratio of 1.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.89, a PEG ratio of 0.19 and a beta of 1.48.

Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $5.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.51 by ($0.24). Nexstar Media Group had a return on equity of 25.72% and a net margin of 11.39%. The firm had revenue of $1.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.37 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.70 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 20.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Nexstar Media Group will post 25.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nexstar Media Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.69 per share. This represents a $6.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. Nexstar Media Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.10%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Rachel Morgan sold 6,196 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.30, for a total transaction of $1,061,374.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Rachel Morgan sold 6,196 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.30, for a total value of $1,061,374.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew Alford sold 3,175 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.82, for a total value of $532,828.50. Following the sale, the insider now owns 9,173 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,539,412.86. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 41,112 shares of company stock valued at $6,887,029 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 6.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Nexstar Media Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of NXST. CX Institutional boosted its holdings in shares of Nexstar Media Group by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 1,396 shares of the company’s stock worth $231,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. 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 valued at $257,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in Nexstar Media Group by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,088 shares of the company’s stock valued at $181,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 valued at $2,308,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the period. Finally, SummerHaven Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Nexstar Media Group by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 4,217 shares of the company’s stock worth $700,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.30% of the company’s stock.

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.