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

Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the five brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $193.83.

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Nexstar Media Group in a report on Thursday, March 7th. Rosenblatt Securities cut their price target on shares of Nexstar Media Group from $216.00 to $213.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, TheStreet raised shares of Nexstar Media Group from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st.

Insider Transactions at Nexstar Media Group

In other news, CEO Perry A. Sook sold 31,758 shares of Nexstar Media Group stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.66, for a total transaction of $5,038,724.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 636,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $101,032,784.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Sean Compton sold 3,000 shares of Nexstar Media Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.61, for a total value of $487,830.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 9,489 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,543,006.29. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Perry A. Sook sold 31,758 shares of Nexstar Media Group stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.66, for a total transaction of $5,038,724.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 636,788 shares in the company, valued at approximately $101,032,784.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 46,508 shares of company stock valued at $7,487,950. Insiders own 5.90% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nexstar Media Group

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NXST. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. raised its position in Nexstar Media Group by 4.0% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 1,619 shares of the company’s stock worth $305,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can increased its position in shares of Nexstar Media Group by 11.7% in the first quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 23,877 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,522,000 after acquiring an additional 2,510 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Nexstar Media Group in the first quarter valued at about $171,000. BlackRock Inc. increased its position in shares of Nexstar Media Group by 0.7% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 1,714,944 shares of the company’s stock valued at $323,233,000 after acquiring an additional 12,720 shares during the period. Finally, Great West Life Assurance Co. Can increased its position in shares of Nexstar Media Group by 19.1% in the first quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 3,606 shares of the company’s stock valued at $714,000 after acquiring an additional 579 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.30% of the company’s stock.

Nexstar Media Group Stock Up 2.0 %

NXST opened at $165.25 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $165.83 and a 200 day moving average of $158.37. The company has a market cap of $5.52 billion, a PE ratio of 17.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.50. Nexstar Media Group has a 12 month low of $132.30 and a 12 month high of $187.32. The company has a current ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.90.

Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The company reported $3.32 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.42 by ($1.10). Nexstar Media Group had a net margin of 7.03% and a return on equity of 14.06%. The firm had revenue of $1.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.32 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $8.04 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Nexstar Media Group will post 26.73 EPS for the current year.

Nexstar Media Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 9th were issued a dividend of $1.69 per share. This is an increase from Nexstar Media Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.35. This represents a $6.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.09%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 8th. Nexstar Media Group’s payout ratio is currently 70.20%.

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.