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

Shares of Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seven ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $220.00.

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on NXST shares. Barrington Research boosted their price objective on Nexstar Media Group from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Nexstar Media Group from $206.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Zacks Research upgraded Nexstar Media Group to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Benchmark boosted their price objective on Nexstar Media Group from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th.

Nexstar Media Group Stock Performance

Shares of Nexstar Media Group stock opened at $206.36 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.05. Nexstar Media Group has a 52 week low of $141.66 and a 52 week high of $212.43. The company has a quick ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.80. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $182.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $169.21.

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

Nexstar Media Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.86 per share. This represents a $7.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. Nexstar Media Group’s dividend payout ratio is 38.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nexstar Media Group

In other news, insider Gary Weitman sold 510 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.25, for a total transaction of $84,277.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 8,229 shares in the company, valued at $1,359,842.25. This represents a 5.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Dana Zimmer sold 889 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.25, for a total value of $146,907.25. Following the sale, the insider owned 6,201 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,024,715.25. This trade represents a 12.54% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 21,474 shares of company stock valued at $3,666,988. Corporate insiders own 6.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its position in Nexstar Media Group by 7.2% in the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,317 shares of the company’s stock worth $921,000 after acquiring an additional 359 shares in the last quarter. Vident Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Nexstar Media Group in the second quarter worth $1,522,000. Tidal Investments LLC raised its position in Nexstar Media Group by 55.2% in the second quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 6,963 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,204,000 after acquiring an additional 2,476 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in Nexstar Media Group by 311.4% in the second quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,049 shares of the company’s stock worth $181,000 after acquiring an additional 794 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Redwood Investment Management LLC raised its position in Nexstar Media Group by 36.1% in the second quarter. Redwood Investment Management LLC now owns 26,346 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,557,000 after acquiring an additional 6,982 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.30% of the company’s stock.

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.