Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Benchmark Analyst Says

Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST) had its price objective hoisted by equities research analysts at Benchmark from $200.00 to $225.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the stock. Benchmark’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 31.17% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. Loop Capital raised Nexstar Media Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $200.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday. StockNews.com raised Nexstar Media Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on Nexstar Media Group from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Nexstar Media Group in a research report on Thursday. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $210.29.

Nexstar Media Group Trading Up 5.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ NXST traded up $8.95 during trading on Friday, reaching $171.53. The company had a trading volume of 302,163 shares, compared to its average volume of 315,782. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $155.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $163.29. Nexstar Media Group has a 12 month low of $146.04 and a 12 month high of $191.86. The stock has a market cap of $5.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.88, a PEG ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 1.45. 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 business had revenue of $1.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.48 billion. Nexstar Media Group had a net margin of 11.39% and a return on equity of 26.03%. As a group, research analysts expect that Nexstar Media Group will post 21.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Nexstar Media Group

In other news, Director Lisbeth Mcnabb sold 875 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.00, for a total transaction of $150,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,752 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $989,344. This trade represents a 13.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Charles Thomas Mcmillen sold 750 shares of Nexstar Media Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.93, for a total value of $119,947.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 6,975 shares in the company, valued at $1,115,511.75. This represents a 9.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 127,493 shares of company stock valued at $20,354,366. Insiders own 6.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NXST. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of Nexstar Media Group by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 6,487 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,073,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its stake in Nexstar Media Group by 15.3% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 550 shares of the company’s stock worth $87,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Mariner LLC lifted its stake in Nexstar Media Group by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 2,300 shares of the company’s stock worth $363,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its position in Nexstar Media Group by 1.2% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 10,185 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,684,000 after buying an additional 117 shares during the period. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth increased its position in Nexstar Media Group by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 1,726 shares of the company’s stock worth $273,000 after buying an additional 117 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.