Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the seven brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $225.00.

A number of research firms recently issued reports on NXST. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Nexstar Media Group from $206.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Nexstar Media Group in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on shares of Nexstar Media Group from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. Benchmark lifted their price objective on shares of Nexstar Media Group from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Nexstar Media Group to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 8th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Nexstar Media Group news, insider Dana Zimmer sold 889 shares of Nexstar Media Group stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.25, for a total value of $146,907.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 6,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,024,715.25. The trade was a 12.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Sean Compton sold 850 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.25, for a total transaction of $140,462.50. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 15,272 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,523,698. This represents a 5.27% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 5,209 shares of company stock valued at $860,787 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 6.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nexstar Media Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Nexstar Media Group by 375.0% in the 2nd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 152 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in shares of Nexstar Media Group by 617.2% in the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 208 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Nexstar Media Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $43,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in shares of Nexstar Media Group by 70.6% in the 2nd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 273 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Whipplewood Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Nexstar Media Group by 830.3% in the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 307 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 274 shares during the last quarter. 95.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Nexstar Media Group Trading Down 0.8%

NASDAQ NXST opened at $202.96 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.15 billion, a PE ratio of 10.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a fifty day moving average of $190.49 and a 200 day moving average of $173.65. Nexstar Media Group has a 1 year low of $141.66 and a 1 year high of $223.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.80, a current ratio of 1.69 and a quick ratio of 1.69.

Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $3.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.95 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $1.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.21 billion. Nexstar Media Group had a net margin of 11.90% and a return on equity of 28.40%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.54 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Nexstar Media Group will post 21.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Nexstar Media Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th were issued a $1.86 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. This represents a $7.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.7%. Nexstar Media Group’s payout ratio is presently 38.63%.

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.