Loop Capital Upgrades Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST) to "Strong-Buy"

Loop Capital upgraded shares of Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST - Free Report) to a strong-buy rating in a research note published on Friday, Zacks.com reports.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Benchmark reiterated a buy rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Nexstar Media Group in a report on Friday. Barrington Research reaffirmed an outperform rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Nexstar Media Group in a report on Thursday, May 9th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Nexstar Media Group from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $190.00 to $221.00 in a report on Monday. TheStreet raised Nexstar Media Group from a c+ rating to a b- rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reduced their price target on Nexstar Media Group from $216.00 to $213.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $206.00.

Nexstar Media Group Price Performance

NXST stock traded up $5.48 during trading on Friday, hitting $179.69. The stock had a trading volume of 408,609 shares, compared to its average volume of 339,000. The company's 50 day moving average price is $165.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $161.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.85, a quick ratio of 1.80 and a current ratio of 1.80. The stock has a market cap of $5.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.50. Nexstar Media Group has a 1-year low of $132.30 and a 1-year high of $187.32.

Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 9th. The company reported $5.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.28 by $0.88. Nexstar Media Group had a return on equity of 17.18% and a net margin of 8.29%. The firm had revenue of $1.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.29 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.97 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Nexstar Media Group will post 26.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nexstar Media Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th will be given a dividend of $1.69 per share. This represents a $6.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.76%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. Nexstar Media Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 57.19%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Nexstar Media Group news, insider Sean Compton sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.61, for a total transaction of $487,830.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 9,489 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,543,006.29. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director Dennis J. Fitzsimons sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.82, for a total transaction of $341,640.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 12,027 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,054,452.14. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Sean Compton sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.61, for a total value of $487,830.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 9,489 shares in the company, valued at $1,543,006.29. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 46,508 shares of company stock valued at $7,487,950 over the last 90 days. 5.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nexstar Media Group

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Nexstar Media Group by 632.1% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 205 shares of the company's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. First United Bank & Trust bought a new position in Nexstar Media Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in Nexstar Media Group by 350.9% in the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 239 shares of the company's stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares during the period. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora bought a new stake in Nexstar Media Group during the 4th quarter valued at $45,000. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its position in Nexstar Media Group by 41.1% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 295 shares of the company's stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the period. 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.