Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST) Receives $256.50 Consensus Price Target from Brokerages

Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the eight ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has given a hold recommendation and six have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $256.50.

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on Nexstar Media Group from $255.00 to $240.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Nexstar Media Group in a research report on Monday, August 24th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Nexstar Media Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, July 12th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Nexstar Media Group from $253.00 to $249.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Nexstar Media Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Michael Biard sold 2,465 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.82, for a total transaction of $458,046.30. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 20,890 shares in the company, valued at $3,881,779.80. The trade was a 10.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO Perry A. Sook purchased 12,235 shares of Nexstar Media Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 26th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $162.26 per share, with a total value of $1,985,251.10. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 899,044 shares in the company, valued at $145,878,879.44. This represents a 1.38% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 6,773 shares of company stock valued at $1,265,426. Corporate insiders own 7.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Nexstar Media Group

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Nexstar Media Group by 43.2% in the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 12,925 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,308,000 after buying an additional 3,897 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC acquired a new position in Nexstar Media Group during the second quarter valued at $294,000. Baird Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Nexstar Media Group during the second quarter valued at $205,000. Allworth Financial LP raised its position in Nexstar Media Group by 35.8% during the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 360 shares of the company’s stock valued at $64,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the period. Finally, Nykredit A S purchased a new stake in Nexstar Media Group in the 2nd quarter worth about $294,000. 95.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Nexstar Media Group Stock Down 1.0%

NXST stock opened at $168.80 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $5.20 billion, a PE ratio of 32.40 and a beta of 0.90. Nexstar Media Group has a 12 month low of $154.47 and a 12 month high of $254.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.09, a current ratio of 1.56 and a quick ratio of 1.56. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $182.75 and a 200 day simple moving average of $192.62.

Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $3.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.98 by ($2.37). The business had revenue of $1.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. Nexstar Media Group had a return on equity of 24.02% and a net margin of 3.20%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 62.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.06 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Nexstar Media Group will post 32.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nexstar Media Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 14th were paid a dividend of $1.86 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 14th. This represents a $7.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.4%. Nexstar Media Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 142.80%.

About Nexstar Media Group

Nexstar Media Group, Inc is a diversified American media company that owns and operates local television stations and digital media platforms across the United States. Its stations provide locally produced news, weather, sports and community programming, while also carrying programming from major broadcast networks, including ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX and The CW, depending on the market.

The company also operates NewsNation, a national cable news and information network, and develops digital content and advertising solutions through its online properties.