Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST) EVP Blake Russell Sells 424 Shares

Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST) EVP Blake Russell sold 424 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.53, for a total transaction of $74,424.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 21,895 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,843,229.35. This trade represents a 1.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Nexstar Media Group Price Performance

NXST stock opened at $175.74 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $162.85 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $162.11. The company has a market cap of $5.36 billion, a PE ratio of 10.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 1.06. Nexstar Media Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $141.66 and a 12-month high of $191.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.98.

Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $3.37 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.26 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $1.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.23 billion. Nexstar Media Group had a return on equity of 26.03% and a net margin of 11.39%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.16 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Nexstar Media Group, Inc. will post 21.62 EPS for the current year.

Nexstar Media Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be paid a dividend of $1.86 per share. This represents a $7.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 19th. Nexstar Media Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.69%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on NXST shares. Guggenheim raised their price objective on Nexstar Media Group from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Loop Capital upgraded Nexstar Media Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $190.00 to $200.00 in a report on Friday, February 28th. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Nexstar Media Group in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Nexstar Media Group in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Nexstar Media Group from $216.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Nexstar Media Group currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $205.71.

Institutional Trading of Nexstar Media Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Nexstar Media Group by 0.8% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,341,899 shares of the company’s stock worth $240,481,000 after acquiring an additional 10,544 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Nexstar Media Group by 27,180.2% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,206,877 shares of the company’s stock worth $190,650,000 after acquiring an additional 1,202,453 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Nexstar Media Group by 3.3% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,138,064 shares of the company’s stock valued at $203,964,000 after buying an additional 35,938 shares during the last quarter. Demars Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Nexstar Media Group by 13.6% in the first quarter. Demars Financial Group LLC now owns 879,253 shares of the company’s stock valued at $157,580,000 after buying an additional 105,516 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Nexstar Media Group by 32.1% in the first quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 804,095 shares of the company’s stock valued at $144,110,000 after buying an additional 195,574 shares during the last quarter. 95.30% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.