Analysts Set Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST) PT at $204.29

Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seven analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $204.29.

A number of research firms have weighed in on NXST. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating on shares of Nexstar Media Group in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and issued a $215.00 target price on shares of Nexstar Media Group in a research note on Friday, November 8th. StockNews.com raised shares of Nexstar Media Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Loop Capital lowered shares of Nexstar Media Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $200.00 to $190.00 in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Nexstar Media Group in a research note on Thursday, November 7th.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Bernadette S. Aulestia sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.45, for a total value of $82,225.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $328,900. This trade represents a 20.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Perry A. Sook sold 52,808 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $157.41, for a total transaction of $8,312,507.28. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 674,694 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $106,203,582.54. This represents a 7.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 146,448 shares of company stock worth $23,828,076. 6.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nexstar Media Group

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of NXST. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Nexstar Media Group by 27,180.2% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,206,877 shares of the company’s stock valued at $190,650,000 after acquiring an additional 1,202,453 shares in the last quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Nexstar Media Group by 18.1% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position 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 valued at $32,769,000 after purchasing an additional 83,637 shares during the period. Long Focus Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Nexstar Media Group by 86.2% in the 2nd quarter. Long Focus Capital Management LLC now owns 121,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,087,000 after buying an additional 56,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Payden & Rygel lifted its holdings in shares of Nexstar Media Group by 40.4% in the third quarter. Payden & Rygel now owns 110,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,222,000 after buying an additional 31,700 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.30% of the company’s stock.

Nexstar Media Group Stock Performance

Shares of NXST stock opened at $157.42 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.98. The company has a market cap of $4.88 billion, a PE ratio of 9.10, a P/E/G ratio of 0.26 and a beta of 1.45. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $161.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $166.81. Nexstar Media Group has a 52 week low of $147.25 and a 52 week high of $191.86.

Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $5.27 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.51 by ($0.24). Nexstar Media Group had a net margin of 11.39% and a return on equity of 26.03%. The company had revenue of $1.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.37 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.70 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Nexstar Media Group will post 24.53 EPS for the current year.

Nexstar Media Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th were issued a dividend of $1.69 per share. This represents a $6.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. Nexstar Media Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.10%.

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.