Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST) Stock Gets Price Target Bump from Wells Fargo & Company

Key Points

• Wells Fargo raised its Nexstar price target from $249 to $250 and maintained an “overweight” rating, implying 32.71% upside from the prior close.
• Analyst views are mixed, but MarketBeat’s consensus is “Moderate Buy,” with an average price target of $256.67.
• Nexstar’s latest quarterly EPS of $7.92 fell short of the $8.08 consensus, while revenue of $2.13 billion exceeded estimates and rose 78% year over year.

Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST - Get Free Report) had its price objective upped by equities research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $249.00 to $250.00 in a research note issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "overweight" rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company's price target points to a potential upside of 32.71% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Nexstar Media Group in a research note on Monday, August 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on Nexstar Media Group from $255.00 to $240.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 10th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Nexstar Media Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, July 12th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Nexstar Media Group from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Nexstar Media Group presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $256.67.

Nexstar Media Group Stock Up 0.2%

NASDAQ:NXST traded up $0.41 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $188.38. The company's stock had a trading volume of 32,706 shares, compared to its average volume of 381,147. Nexstar Media Group has a 1 year low of $153.17 and a 1 year high of $254.30. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $167.60 and a 200-day moving average of $191.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.80 billion, a PE ratio of 35.85 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a quick ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 1.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.09.

Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 5th. The company reported $7.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $8.08 by ($0.16). The business had revenue of $2.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.07 billion. Nexstar Media Group had a return on equity of 24.02% and a net margin of 3.20%. The firm's revenue was up 78.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.14 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Nexstar Media Group will post 32.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Bernadette Aulestia sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $186.80, for a total transaction of $56,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 4,383 shares in the company, valued at approximately $818,744.40. This represents a 6.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Michael Biard sold 2,465 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.82, for a total value of $458,046.30. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 20,890 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,881,779.80. This represents a 10.55% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 9,596 shares of company stock valued at $1,733,169. Company insiders own 7.00% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nexstar Media Group

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NXST. Ethic Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Nexstar Media Group by 4.1% during the third quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 1,457 shares of the company's stock worth $235,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its holdings in Nexstar Media Group by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,406 shares of the company's stock worth $386,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Nexstar Media Group by 14.0% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 701 shares of the company's stock worth $113,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP raised its position in Nexstar Media Group by 35.8% during the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 360 shares of the company's stock worth $64,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its position in Nexstar Media Group by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 5,826 shares of the company's stock worth $1,054,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.30% of the company's stock.

About Nexstar Media Group

Nexstar Media Group, Inc is a television broadcasting and digital media company headquartered in Irving, Texas. The company operates local television stations across the United States, with stations affiliated with major networks including ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, The CW and MyNetworkTV. Its local media operations provide news, weather, sports, entertainment and other programming to audiences in markets nationwide.

Nexstar also owns and operates national media properties, including NewsNation, a cable and streaming news network, and The Hill, a political news and information platform.

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