Analysts Set Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST) Target Price at $208.43

Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST) has been given an average rating of “Buy” by the seven research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $208.43.

NXST has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Loop Capital upgraded Nexstar Media Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $190.00 to $200.00 in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Nexstar Media Group in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of Nexstar Media Group in a research report on Monday, March 10th. StockNews.com cut shares of Nexstar Media Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. 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 report on Friday, February 28th.

Nexstar Media Group Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:NXST opened at $151.99 on Friday. Nexstar Media Group has a 1-year low of $143.32 and a 1-year high of $191.86. The company’s fifty day moving average is $163.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $164.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a current ratio of 1.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 1.09.

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

Nexstar Media Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 12th were issued a $1.86 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 12th. This is a boost from Nexstar Media Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.69. This represents a $7.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.90%. Nexstar Media Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.56%.

Insider Activity at Nexstar Media Group

In other Nexstar Media Group news, insider Gary Weitman sold 1,241 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.21, for a total transaction of $219,917.61. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,975 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $704,409.75. This trade represents a 23.79 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Andrew Alford sold 3,768 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 represents a 41.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 39,105 shares of company stock worth $6,722,463 over the last quarter. 6.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nexstar Media Group

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in NXST. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Nexstar Media Group by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,331,355 shares of the company’s stock valued at $210,314,000 after purchasing an additional 4,704 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Nexstar Media Group by 27,180.2% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,206,877 shares of the company’s stock valued at $190,650,000 after buying an additional 1,202,453 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Nexstar Media Group by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,102,126 shares of the company’s stock valued at $174,103,000 after acquiring an additional 18,675 shares during the last quarter. Demars Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Nexstar Media Group by 16,009.5% during the 4th quarter. Demars Financial Group LLC now owns 773,737 shares of the company’s stock worth $122,227,000 after acquiring an additional 768,934 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Nexstar Media Group by 22.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 463,139 shares of the company’s stock worth $73,162,000 after acquiring an additional 84,367 shares during the last quarter. 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.