Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST) Stock Has Consensus Price Target of $256.50 According to Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus on Nexstar Media Group, with six buy, one hold and one sell rating among eight firms. The average 12-month price target is $256.50, well above the reported share price of $171.44.
• Nexstar’s latest quarter showed revenue growth of 62.2% year over year to $1.99 billion, exceeding estimates, but earnings per share of $3.61 fell short of the $5.98 consensus forecast.
• Institutional investors own 95.3% of the company and several increased their positions, while insiders sold 9,596 shares worth approximately $1.73 million during the latest quarter.

Shares of Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST - Get Free Report) have received a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the eight brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $256.50.

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on NXST shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on Nexstar Media Group from $255.00 to $240.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 10th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Nexstar Media Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, July 12th. Zacks Research downgraded Nexstar Media Group from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Nexstar Media Group in a research note on Monday, August 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of 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.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Andrew Alford sold 2,823 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.69, for a total transaction of $467,742.87. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 11,726 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,942,880.94. This trade represents a 19.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Bernadette Aulestia sold 300 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 24th. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at $818,744.40. This trade represents a 6.41% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 9,596 shares of company stock valued at $1,733,169 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 7.00% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. boosted its position in shares of Nexstar Media Group by 685.8% during the first quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 92,817 shares of the company's stock valued at $16,784,000 after buying an additional 81,005 shares during the period. Foster & Motley Inc. acquired a new position in Nexstar Media Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $8,529,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Nexstar Media Group in the third quarter valued at $4,459,000. Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in shares of Nexstar Media Group by 17.0% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 173,269 shares of the company's stock worth $31,332,000 after purchasing an additional 25,193 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Nexstar Media Group by 1,573.4% in the first quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 18,508 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,347,000 after acquiring an additional 17,402 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.30% of the company's stock.

Nexstar Media Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ NXST opened at $171.44 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.09, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a current ratio of 1.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.91 and a beta of 0.97. The stock's fifty day moving average is $167.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $192.48. Nexstar Media Group has a fifty-two week low of $153.17 and a fifty-two week high of $254.30.

Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $3.61 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $5.98 by ($2.37). Nexstar Media Group had a return on equity of 24.02% and a net margin of 3.20%. The company had revenue of $1.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.06 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 62.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Nexstar Media Group will post 32.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Nexstar Media Group Company Profile

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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