Insider Selling: Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST) CEO Sells 35,205 Shares of Stock

Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST) CEO Perry A. Sook sold 35,205 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.13, for a total transaction of $5,707,786.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 674,694 shares in the company, valued at $109,388,138.22. This represents a 4.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Nexstar Media Group Stock Down 1.2 %

NXST opened at $157.01 on Friday. Nexstar Media Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $147.25 and a 52 week high of $191.86. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $169.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $167.38. The company has a quick ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.98. The company has a market cap of $4.87 billion, a PE ratio of 9.08, a P/E/G ratio of 0.20 and a beta of 1.45.

Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 26.03% and a net margin of 11.39%. The company had revenue of $1.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.37 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.70 EPS. Nexstar Media Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Nexstar Media Group, Inc. will post 24.53 EPS for the current year.

Nexstar Media Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th were issued a dividend of $1.69 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $6.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.31%. Nexstar Media Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.10%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on NXST. Loop Capital cut shares of Nexstar Media Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $200.00 to $190.00 in a report on Friday, November 8th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and issued a $215.00 price objective on shares of Nexstar Media Group in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Guggenheim cut their target price on Nexstar Media Group from $200.00 to $198.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Nexstar Media Group in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Nexstar Media Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Nexstar Media Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $204.29.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nexstar Media Group

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NXST. Copeland Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Nexstar Media Group by 18.1% during the 3rd quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 547,728 shares of the company’s stock worth $90,567,000 after buying an additional 83,829 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Nexstar Media Group by 72.0% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 199,811 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,769,000 after acquiring an additional 83,637 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Nexstar Media Group by 4.9% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,326,476 shares of the company’s stock worth $220,189,000 after acquiring an additional 62,331 shares in the last quarter. Long Focus Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Nexstar Media Group by 86.2% in the second quarter. Long Focus Capital Management LLC now owns 121,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,087,000 after acquiring an additional 56,000 shares during the period. Finally, Payden & Rygel lifted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 31,700 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.