Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST) Stock Has Average Price Target of $256.50

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

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

Nexstar Media Group Stock Performance

Shares of NXST stock opened at $161.45 on Thursday. Nexstar Media Group has a 52-week low of $153.17 and a 52-week high of $254.30. The company has a quick ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.09. The stock has a market cap of $4.97 billion, a PE ratio of 30.99 and a beta of 0.94. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $174.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $182.89.

Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $3.61 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.98 by ($2.37). The company had revenue of $1.99 billion for 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 firm’s revenue was up 62.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.06 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Nexstar Media Group will post 32.88 EPS for the current year.

Nexstar Media Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 14th were given a $1.86 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 14th. This represents a $7.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.6%. Nexstar Media Group’s dividend payout ratio is 142.80%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Dana Zimmer sold 4,008 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $187.46, for a total value of $751,339.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 1,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $335,928.32. This represents a 69.10% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Bernadette S. Aulestia sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $186.80, for a total value of $56,040.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 4,383 shares in the company, valued at $818,744.40. This represents a 6.41% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 9,596 shares of company stock valued at $1,733,169. Insiders own 7.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Nexstar Media Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in shares of Nexstar Media Group by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 643,864 shares of the company’s stock valued at $116,427,000 after buying an additional 11,477 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Nexstar Media Group by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 488,744 shares of the company’s stock worth $88,381,000 after acquiring an additional 7,661 shares in the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its holdings in Nexstar Media Group by 28.4% in the 4th quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 358,762 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,847,000 after acquiring an additional 79,426 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in Nexstar Media Group by 17.0% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 173,269 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,332,000 after acquiring an additional 25,193 shares during the period. Finally, Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. raised its position in Nexstar Media Group by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. now owns 173,068 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,141,000 after acquiring an additional 7,624 shares during the period. 95.30% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Nexstar Media Group Company Profile

Nexstar Media Group, Inc is a diversified media company that owns and operates local television stations across the United States. Its stations provide local news, weather, sports, and entertainment programming, while also distributing content through digital platforms and connected television services.

The company also operates national media businesses, including NewsNation, a national cable news network, and The CW Network, which offers scripted programming, sports, and other entertainment content.