Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST) Announces $1.69 Quarterly Dividend

Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, April 26th, Zacks reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be paid a dividend of 1.69 per share on Friday, May 24th. This represents a $6.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.06%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th.

Nexstar Media Group has raised its dividend payment by an average of 34.1% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 11 years. Nexstar Media Group has a payout ratio of 39.6% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Nexstar Media Group to earn $18.19 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $6.76 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 37.2%.

Nexstar Media Group Price Performance

Shares of NXST stock opened at $166.39 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.90, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 1.53. The company has a market capitalization of $5.48 billion, a PE ratio of 17.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 1.50. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $164.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $160.41. Nexstar Media Group has a 12 month low of $132.30 and a 12 month high of $187.32.

Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST) last released 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). The firm had revenue of $1.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.32 billion. Nexstar Media Group had a net margin of 7.03% and a return on equity of 14.06%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $8.04 EPS. Analysts predict that Nexstar Media Group will post 26.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on NXST. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Nexstar Media Group in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Rosenblatt Securities reduced their price target on shares of Nexstar Media Group from $216.00 to $213.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, TheStreet upgraded shares of Nexstar Media Group from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Nexstar Media Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $193.83.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nexstar Media Group

In other news, CEO Perry A. Sook sold 31,758 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 636,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $101,032,784.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Perry A. Sook sold 31,758 shares of Nexstar Media Group stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.66, for a total value 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Sean Compton sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.61, for a total transaction of $487,830.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 9,489 shares in the company, valued at $1,543,006.29. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 46,508 shares of company stock valued at $7,487,950 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 5.90% 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.