Perry A. Sook Sells 32,096 Shares of Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST) Stock

Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST) CEO Perry A. Sook sold 32,096 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.67, for a total value of $5,477,824.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 806,019 shares in the company, valued at approximately $137,563,262.73. This represents a 3.83 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Nexstar Media Group Stock Performance

Shares of Nexstar Media Group stock opened at $169.63 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $5.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.81, a P/E/G ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 1.45. Nexstar Media Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $146.04 and a twelve month high of $191.86. The company’s fifty day moving average is $155.78 and its 200 day moving average is $163.59. The company has a quick ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.98.

Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $7.56 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $9.22 by ($1.66). The company had revenue of $1.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.48 billion. Nexstar Media Group had a return on equity of 26.03% and a net margin of 11.39%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Nexstar Media Group, Inc. will post 21.62 EPS for the current year.

Nexstar Media Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 12th were given a dividend of $1.86 per share. This represents a $7.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.39%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 12th. This is an increase from Nexstar Media Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.69. Nexstar Media Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.56%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of NXST. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in Nexstar Media Group by 67.8% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 26,239 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,339,000 after buying an additional 10,603 shares during the last quarter. SGL Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Nexstar Media Group during the 3rd quarter worth about $3,758,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Nexstar Media Group by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,083,451 shares of the company’s stock worth $179,149,000 after acquiring an additional 7,117 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Nexstar Media Group by 661.4% in the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 8,672 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,434,000 after purchasing an additional 7,533 shares during the period. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Nexstar Media Group by 680.9% in the 3rd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 17,219 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,847,000 after purchasing an additional 15,014 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NXST has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Benchmark raised their price objective on Nexstar Media Group from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Nexstar Media Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Nexstar Media Group in a report on Wednesday. Guggenheim increased their price objective on shares of Nexstar Media Group from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Loop Capital raised shares of Nexstar Media Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $190.00 to $200.00 in a research note on Friday, February 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $210.29.

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.