Nexstar Media Group’s (NXST) “Buy” Rating Reaffirmed at Benchmark

Benchmark reissued their buy rating on shares of Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST) in a report published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $215.00 price objective on the stock.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Nexstar Media Group from $221.00 to $209.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Guggenheim decreased their price target on Nexstar Media Group from $200.00 to $198.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 4th. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of Nexstar Media Group in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on shares of Nexstar Media Group from $207.00 to $205.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Nexstar Media Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $198.50.

Nexstar Media Group Trading Up 3.0 %

Nexstar Media Group stock opened at $171.01 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.92, a quick ratio of 1.78 and a current ratio of 1.78. The stock has a market cap of $5.52 billion, a PE ratio of 9.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.19 and a beta of 1.48. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $168.54 and a two-hundred day moving average of $167.06. Nexstar Media Group has a one year low of $140.92 and a one year high of $191.86.

Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $5.27 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.51 by ($0.24). The business had revenue of $1.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.37 billion. Nexstar Media Group had a return on equity of 25.72% and a net margin of 11.39%. Nexstar Media Group’s quarterly revenue was up 20.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.70 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Nexstar Media Group will post 25.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nexstar Media Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a $1.69 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $6.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.95%. Nexstar Media Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.10%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Nexstar Media Group news, insider Andrew Alford sold 3,175 shares of Nexstar Media Group stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.82, for a total transaction of $532,828.50. Following the sale, the insider now owns 9,173 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,539,412.86. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Andrew Alford sold 3,175 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.82, for a total transaction of $532,828.50. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 9,173 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,539,412.86. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Lee Ann Gliha sold 984 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $157.63, for a total transaction of $155,107.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 8,107 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,277,906.41. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 41,112 shares of company stock worth $6,887,029. 6.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Capital Research Global Investors purchased a new position in Nexstar Media Group during the first quarter worth about $92,323,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Nexstar Media Group by 3.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,370,415 shares of the company’s stock worth $580,689,000 after acquiring an additional 127,783 shares during the period. Payden & Rygel Investment Group acquired a new stake in Nexstar Media Group during the first quarter worth $15,144,000. Copeland Capital Management LLC raised its position in Nexstar Media Group by 18.1% in the third quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 547,728 shares of the company’s stock valued at $90,567,000 after purchasing an additional 83,829 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Nexstar Media Group by 72.0% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 199,811 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,769,000 after purchasing an additional 83,637 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.30% of the company’s stock.

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.