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

Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST) has earned a consensus rating of “Buy” from the seven analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $208.43.

NXST has been the topic of a number of research reports. Benchmark raised their price target on Nexstar Media Group from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Guggenheim boosted their price target on Nexstar Media Group from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Nexstar Media Group in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Loop Capital raised shares of Nexstar Media Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $190.00 to $200.00 in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Nexstar Media Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd.

Nexstar Media Group Stock Down 4.0 %

NXST stock opened at $152.98 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 1.68. Nexstar Media Group has a 1-year low of $143.32 and a 1-year high of $191.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.85, a P/E/G ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 1.09. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $163.75 and a 200-day moving average price of $164.29.

Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $7.56 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.22 by ($1.66). Nexstar Media Group had a return on equity of 26.03% and a net margin of 11.39%. The company had revenue of $1.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.48 billion. Equities analysts forecast that Nexstar Media Group will post 21.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nexstar Media Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 12th were given a $1.86 dividend. This represents a $7.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.86%. This is an increase from Nexstar Media Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.69. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 12th. Nexstar Media Group’s payout ratio is presently 34.56%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Nexstar Media Group news, Director Charles Thomas Mcmillen sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.51, for a total transaction of $339,020.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,975 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $843,312.25. This represents a 28.67 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew Alford sold 3,768 shares of Nexstar Media Group stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.98, for a total value of $685,700.64. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 5,405 shares in the company, valued at $983,601.90. This trade represents a 41.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 39,105 shares of company stock worth $6,722,463. 6.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nexstar Media Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NXST. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Nexstar Media Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in Nexstar Media Group during the third quarter valued at $33,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC lifted its position in Nexstar Media Group by 830.3% during the first quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 307 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 274 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Nexstar Media Group by 2,126.3% in the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 423 shares of the company’s stock worth $76,000 after buying an additional 404 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its holdings in shares of Nexstar Media Group by 15.3% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 550 shares of the company’s stock worth $87,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. 95.30% of the stock is 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.