Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST) Given New $215.00 Price Target at Benchmark

Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST - Free Report) had its target price lowered by Benchmark from $225.00 to $215.00 in a report issued on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Loop Capital raised Nexstar Media Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $190.00 to $200.00 in a research report on Friday, February 28th. StockNews.com cut Nexstar Media Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on shares of Nexstar Media Group from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Barrington Research reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of Nexstar Media Group in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Nexstar Media Group from $216.00 to $200.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Nexstar Media Group currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $205.71.

Nexstar Media Group Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of Nexstar Media Group stock traded up $1.30 on Tuesday, reaching $165.61. 44,410 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 387,936. Nexstar Media Group has a one year low of $141.66 and a one year 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. The company has a 50-day moving average of $162.59 and a 200 day moving average of $162.20. The company has a market capitalization of $5.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.58, a PEG ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 1.06.

Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $3.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.26 by $0.11. Nexstar Media Group had a net margin of 11.39% and a return on equity of 26.03%. The firm had revenue of $1.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.23 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.16 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Nexstar Media Group will post 21.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Nexstar Media Group Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be given a dividend of $1.86 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 19th. This represents a $7.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.49%. Nexstar Media Group's payout ratio is 34.56%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Perry A. Sook sold 32,096 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.67, for a total transaction of $5,477,824.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 806,019 shares in the company, valued at $137,563,262.73. This represents a 3.83 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Andrew Alford sold 3,768 shares of Nexstar Media Group stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.98, for a total value of $685,700.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 5,405 shares in the company, valued at approximately $983,601.90. This represents a 41.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 39,105 shares of company stock worth $6,722,463. Company insiders own 6.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Nexstar Media Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of NXST. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 1,202,453 shares during the period. Demars Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Nexstar Media Group by 16,009.5% during the 4th quarter. Demars Financial Group LLC now owns 773,737 shares of the company's stock worth $122,227,000 after buying an additional 768,934 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Nexstar Media Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $44,460,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Nexstar Media Group by 611.5% in the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 289,668 shares of the company's stock valued at $51,914,000 after buying an additional 248,957 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Nexstar Media Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,560,000. 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.