Nexstar Media Group’s (NXST) “Buy” Rating Reiterated at Guggenheim

Guggenheim restated their buy rating on shares of Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST) in a research note published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Nexstar Media Group in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Loop Capital cut shares of Nexstar Media Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $200.00 to $190.00 in a report on Friday, November 8th. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $215.00 price objective on shares of Nexstar Media Group in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Nexstar Media Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $204.29.

Nexstar Media Group Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ NXST opened at $157.72 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 1.68. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $161.79 and a 200-day moving average price of $166.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.12, a P/E/G ratio of 0.26 and a beta of 1.45. Nexstar Media Group has a 1 year low of $147.25 and a 1 year high of $191.86.

Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $5.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.37 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.70 EPS. Nexstar Media Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Nexstar Media Group will post 24.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nexstar Media Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th were paid a $1.69 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $6.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.29%. Nexstar Media Group’s payout ratio is 39.10%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nexstar Media Group

In other Nexstar Media Group news, CFO Lee Ann Gliha sold 330 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.23, for a total transaction of $52,215.90. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 8,610 shares in the company, valued at $1,362,360.30. This represents a 3.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Perry A. Sook sold 12,239 shares of Nexstar Media Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.28, for a total value of $2,328,836.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 674,694 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $128,380,774.32. This trade represents a 1.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 146,448 shares of company stock valued at $23,828,076. Company insiders own 6.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in shares of Nexstar Media Group by 67.8% in 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 in the last quarter. SGL Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Nexstar Media Group during the third quarter valued at $3,758,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in 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 during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 7,533 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Nexstar Media Group by 680.9% during the 3rd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 17,219 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,847,000 after acquiring an additional 15,014 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.30% of the company’s stock.

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.