Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST) Given New $249.00 Price Target at Wells Fargo & Company

Key Points

• Wells Fargo cut Nexstar Media Group’s price target from $253 to $249 while maintaining an “overweight” rating, implying roughly 27% upside from the reported $195.82 share price.
• Analyst sentiment remains generally positive, with six Buy ratings and two Hold ratings producing a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $259.
• Nexstar reported quarterly revenue of $1.99 billion, exceeding estimates and rising 62.2% year over year, but EPS of $3.61 fell well short of the $5.98 consensus forecast.

Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST - Get Free Report) had its target price cut by equities research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $253.00 to $249.00 in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "overweight" rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company's target price suggests a potential upside of 27.16% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on NXST. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on Nexstar Media Group from $270.00 to $255.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Nexstar Media Group in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Nexstar Media Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Nexstar Media Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, July 12th. Finally, Barrington Research restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $290.00 price objective on shares of Nexstar Media Group in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $259.00.

Nexstar Media Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ NXST traded up $7.85 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $195.82. 43,930 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 390,337. The company has a market cap of $5.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.82, a PEG ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 0.91. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $179.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $200.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.53, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a current ratio of 1.76. Nexstar Media Group has a twelve month low of $154.47 and a twelve month high of $254.30.

Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $3.61 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.98 by ($2.37). The business had revenue of $1.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.97 billion. Nexstar Media Group had a return on equity of 22.97% and a net margin of 3.23%.The firm's revenue was up 62.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.06 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Nexstar Media Group will post 37.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Nexstar Media Group

In other Nexstar Media Group news, CEO Perry A. Sook bought 12,235 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 26th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $162.26 per share, with a total value of $1,985,251.10. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 899,044 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $145,878,879.44. The trade was a 1.38% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Charles Thomas Mcmillen sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.00, for a total transaction of $180,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 5,658 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,018,440. The trade was a 15.02% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 22,813 shares of company stock valued at $4,174,731. 7.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nexstar Media Group

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NXST. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Nexstar Media Group by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,402,272 shares of the company's stock valued at $284,738,000 after acquiring an additional 10,949 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Nexstar Media Group by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,181,727 shares of the company's stock worth $239,950,000 after acquiring an additional 23,360 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its stake in Nexstar Media Group by 27.1% during the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 882,322 shares of the company's stock worth $152,598,000 after acquiring an additional 187,864 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Nexstar Media Group by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 773,443 shares of the company's stock valued at $157,114,000 after purchasing an additional 13,084 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Nexstar Media Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,241,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.30% of the company's stock.

About Nexstar Media Group

Nexstar Media Group, Inc is a diversified American media company engaged primarily in the ownership, operation and strategic affiliation of local television stations, digital platforms and cable networks. The company provides a range of broadcast content, including local news, sports coverage, entertainment programming and syndicated shows, reaching audiences in more than 100 television markets across the United States.

Founded in 1996 by entrepreneur Perry Sook and headquartered in Irving, Texas, Nexstar has built its presence through organic growth and a series of high-profile acquisitions.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

Continue following MarketBeat

Add MarketBeat as your preferred source on Google to see our latest stories in your feed.

Add As Preferred Source