Zions Bancorporation National Association UT Makes New $2.73 Million Investment in Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST)

Key Points

• Zions Bancorporation made a new investment of approximately $2.73 million in Nexstar Media Group, acquiring 15,241 shares in the first quarter.
• Wall Street analysts are optimistic about Nexstar, with several adjusting their price targets upward; Benchmarks now estimates a price target of $225 and Wells Fargo increased it to $250.
• Nexstar also announced a quarterly dividend of $1.86 per share, representing an annualized dividend yield of 4.0%.

Zions Bancorporation National Association UT acquired a new stake in Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 15,241 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,731,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Deutsche Bank AG grew its holdings in Nexstar Media Group by 112.8% in the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 7,345 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,316,000 after buying an additional 3,894 shares during the last quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board boosted its stake in Nexstar Media Group by 6.0% in the 1st quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 7,472 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,339,000 after buying an additional 424 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Nexstar Media Group by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,138,064 shares of the company's stock valued at $203,964,000 after purchasing an additional 35,938 shares during the last quarter. ING Groep NV bought a new stake in shares of Nexstar Media Group during the first quarter worth $1,649,000. Finally, SGL Investment Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Nexstar Media Group by 2.6% during the first quarter. SGL Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 23,160 shares of the company's stock worth $3,805,000 after acquiring an additional 576 shares during the last quarter. 95.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Nexstar Media Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NXST traded up $4.75 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $206.80. 161,026 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 420,060. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.80, a current ratio of 1.69 and a quick ratio of 1.74. Nexstar Media Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $141.66 and a twelve month high of $207.75. The company has a market cap of $6.31 billion, a PE ratio of 10.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.05. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $179.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $168.21.

Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $3.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.95 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $1.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.21 billion. Nexstar Media Group had a return on equity of 28.40% and a net margin of 11.90%. Nexstar Media Group's revenue for the quarter was down 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.54 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Nexstar Media Group, Inc. will post 21.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nexstar Media Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be given a $1.86 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $7.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. Nexstar Media Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.63%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on NXST. Barrington Research boosted their price objective on Nexstar Media Group from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday. Benchmark increased their target price on Nexstar Media Group from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Nexstar Media Group from $206.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Nexstar Media Group presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $220.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Dana Zimmer sold 1,151 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.53, for a total value of $202,035.03. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 3,141 shares of the company's stock, valued at $551,339.73. The trade was a 26.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Sean Compton sold 1,088 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.53, for a total value of $190,976.64. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 12,096 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,123,210.88. The trade was a 8.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 21,474 shares of company stock valued at $3,666,988. Insiders own 6.70% of the company's stock.

Nexstar Media Group Company Profile

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.