Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST) Receives $208.43 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Shares of Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST) have been given an average rating of “Buy” by the seven brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $208.43.

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Loop Capital upgraded Nexstar Media Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $190.00 to $200.00 in a research note on Friday, February 28th. StockNews.com lowered Nexstar Media Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Nexstar Media Group in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Nexstar Media Group in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Guggenheim lifted 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.

Nexstar Media Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ NXST opened at $169.88 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $157.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $163.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.83, a PEG ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 1.47. Nexstar Media Group has a fifty-two week low of $146.04 and a fifty-two week high of $191.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a current ratio of 1.68.

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

Nexstar Media Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 12th were paid a dividend of $1.86 per share. This is a positive change from Nexstar Media Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.69. This represents a $7.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.38%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 12th. Nexstar Media Group’s payout ratio is 34.56%.

Insider Transactions at Nexstar Media Group

In other news, CFO Lee Ann Gliha sold 330 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.23, for a total transaction of $52,215.90. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 8,610 shares in the company, valued at $1,362,360.30. The trade was a 3.69 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Perry A. Sook sold 52,808 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $157.41, for a total value of $8,312,507.28. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 674,694 shares in the company, valued at approximately $106,203,582.54. This represents a 7.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 161,455 shares of company stock worth $26,158,403 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 6.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in Nexstar Media Group by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 6,487 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,073,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its holdings in Nexstar Media Group by 15.3% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 550 shares of the company’s stock valued at $87,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Mariner LLC lifted its holdings in Nexstar Media Group by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 2,300 shares of the company’s stock valued at $363,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Nexstar Media Group by 1.2% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 10,185 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,684,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth lifted its holdings in Nexstar Media Group by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 1,726 shares of the company’s stock valued at $273,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. 95.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.