Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST) Given Consensus Rating of "Buy" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Nexstar Media Group, Inc. has received a consensus rating of "Buy" from six brokerages, indicating positive sentiment among analysts.
• The company recently declared a $1.86 per share quarterly dividend, which gives an annualized dividend yield of 4.0% and a payout ratio of 37.69%.
• Nexstar reported a 3.06 EPS for the last quarter, surpassing analyst estimates and showing a net margin of 11.90%, despite a 3.2% year-over-year decline in revenue.

Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST - Get Free Report) has received a consensus rating of "Buy" from the six brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $220.00.

NXST has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Benchmark lifted their price objective on shares of Nexstar Media Group from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Nexstar Media Group from $206.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Barrington Research lifted their price objective on shares of Nexstar Media Group from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday.

Nexstar Media Group Price Performance

NXST traded up $7.11 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $201.18. The company had a trading volume of 229,435 shares, compared to its average volume of 420,852. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.86, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a current ratio of 1.74. The company has a market capitalization of $6.14 billion, a PE ratio of 10.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.05. Nexstar Media Group has a twelve month low of $141.66 and a twelve month high of $201.38. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $178.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $167.98.

Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $3.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.95 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $1.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.21 billion. Nexstar Media Group had a net margin of 11.90% and a return on equity of 28.44%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.54 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Nexstar Media Group will post 21.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nexstar Media Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a $1.86 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $7.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.7%. Nexstar Media Group's payout ratio is presently 38.63%.

Insider Activity at Nexstar Media Group

In other Nexstar Media Group news, EVP Lee Ann Gliha sold 1,437 shares of Nexstar Media Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.59, for a total value of $249,448.83. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 10,923 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,896,123.57. The trade was a 11.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Michael Biard sold 2,182 shares of Nexstar Media Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.59, for a total transaction of $378,773.38. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 7,218 shares in the company, valued at $1,252,972.62. This trade represents a 23.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 21,474 shares of company stock worth $3,666,988. Corporate insiders own 6.70% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Nexstar Media Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Demars Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Nexstar Media Group by 16,009.5% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its holdings in Nexstar Media Group by 71,715.8% during the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 394,987 shares of the company's stock worth $70,790,000 after buying an additional 394,437 shares during the last quarter. New Vernon Capital Holdings II LLC acquired a new position in Nexstar Media Group during the first quarter worth $60,064,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Nexstar Media Group by 611.5% during the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 289,668 shares of the company's stock worth $51,914,000 after buying an additional 248,957 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Nexstar Media Group by 32.1% during the first quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 804,095 shares of the company's stock worth $144,110,000 after buying an additional 195,574 shares during 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.