Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST) Rating Lowered to Strong Sell at Zacks Research

Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST) was downgraded by analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on NXST. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $290.00 price target on shares of Nexstar Media Group in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Wall Street Zen lowered Nexstar Media Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, July 12th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Nexstar Media Group in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Nexstar Media Group from $253.00 to $249.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on Nexstar Media Group from $270.00 to $255.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 11th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Nexstar Media Group has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $259.00.

Nexstar Media Group Stock Down 3.7%

Shares of Nexstar Media Group stock opened at $184.56 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $5.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.42, a P/E/G ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 0.91. Nexstar Media Group has a 52-week low of $154.47 and a 52-week high of $254.30. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $179.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $200.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.53, a current ratio of 1.76 and a quick ratio of 1.76.

Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $3.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.98 by ($2.37). The business had revenue of $1.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. Nexstar Media Group had a net margin of 3.20% and a return on equity of 24.26%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 62.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.06 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Nexstar Media Group will post 37.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Nexstar Media Group news, insider Gary Weitman sold 261 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.81, for a total transaction of $44,581.41. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 6,963 shares in the company, valued at $1,189,350.03. The trade was a 3.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, insider Brett Jenkins sold 301 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.81, for a total transaction of $51,413.81. Following the transaction, the insider owned 28,798 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,918,986.38. This trade represents a 1.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last three months, insiders sold 22,813 shares of company stock valued at $4,174,731. Company insiders own 7.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Nexstar Media Group

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Nexstar Media Group by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,402,272 shares of the company’s stock worth $284,738,000 after acquiring an additional 10,949 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Nexstar Media Group by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,181,727 shares of the company’s stock worth $239,950,000 after purchasing an additional 23,360 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its position in Nexstar Media Group by 27.1% in the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 882,322 shares of the company’s stock worth $152,598,000 after purchasing an additional 187,864 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Nexstar Media Group by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 773,443 shares of the company’s stock valued at $157,114,000 after purchasing an additional 13,084 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Nexstar Media Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,241,000. Institutional investors own 95.30% of the company’s stock.

About Nexstar Media Group

Nexstar Media Group, Inc is a diversified American media company engaged primarily in the ownership, operation and strategic affiliation of local television stations, digital platforms and cable networks. The company provides a range of broadcast content, including local news, sports coverage, entertainment programming and syndicated shows, reaching audiences in more than 100 television markets across the United States.

Founded in 1996 by entrepreneur Perry Sook and headquartered in Irving, Texas, Nexstar has built its presence through organic growth and a series of high-profile acquisitions.