Dennis J. Fitzsimons Sells 2,000 Shares of Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST) Stock

Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST - Get Free Report) Director Dennis J. Fitzsimons sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.82, for a total value of $341,640.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 12,027 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,054,452.14. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Nexstar Media Group Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of NXST traded up $0.40 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $172.29. The stock had a trading volume of 166,413 shares, compared to its average volume of 380,323. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.90, a quick ratio of 1.53 and a current ratio of 1.53. The firm has a market cap of $5.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.89, a P/E/G ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 1.51. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $168.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $155.94. Nexstar Media Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $132.30 and a 12-month high of $187.32.

Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The company reported $3.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.42 by ($1.10). The company had revenue of $1.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.32 billion. Nexstar Media Group had a net margin of 7.03% and a return on equity of 14.06%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $8.04 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Nexstar Media Group, Inc. will post 26.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nexstar Media Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 9th were paid a dividend of $1.69 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 8th. This is an increase from Nexstar Media Group's previous quarterly dividend of $1.35. This represents a $6.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.92%. Nexstar Media Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 70.20%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NXST has been the subject of several research reports. TheStreet raised Nexstar Media Group from a "c+" rating to a "b-" rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Barrington Research reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Nexstar Media Group in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Citigroup began coverage on Nexstar Media Group in a report on Friday, December 8th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $158.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities lowered their price target on Nexstar Media Group from $216.00 to $213.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Nexstar Media Group currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $193.83.

Institutional Trading of Nexstar Media Group

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. BlackRock Inc. grew its stake in Nexstar Media Group by 0.8% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 3,397,336 shares of the company's stock worth $586,584,000 after purchasing an additional 27,714 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management increased its holdings in shares of Nexstar Media Group by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,384,505 shares of the company's stock valued at $217,021,000 after buying an additional 72,462 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in Nexstar Media Group by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,038,998 shares of the company's stock valued at $179,393,000 after purchasing an additional 5,325 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in Nexstar Media Group by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,014,676 shares of the company's stock valued at $145,474,000 after purchasing an additional 28,975 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Nexstar Media Group by 9.2% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 716,393 shares of the company's stock valued at $135,026,000 after acquiring an additional 60,217 shares in the last quarter. 95.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.