Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST) Trading 5.7% Higher on Analyst Upgrade

Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST)’s stock price shot up 5.7% during mid-day trading on Friday after Benchmark raised their price target on the stock from $200.00 to $225.00. Benchmark currently has a buy rating on the stock. Nexstar Media Group traded as high as $171.50 and last traded at $171.89. 58,161 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 310,952 shares. The stock had previously closed at $162.58.

Several other brokerages have also commented on NXST. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Nexstar Media Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Nexstar Media Group in a report on Thursday. Guggenheim boosted their price target on shares of Nexstar Media Group from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Loop Capital upgraded shares of Nexstar Media Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $190.00 to $200.00 in a report on Friday. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, Nexstar Media Group currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $210.29.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Lee Ann Gliha sold 330 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.23, for a total transaction of $52,215.90. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 8,610 shares in the company, valued at $1,362,360.30. The trade was a 3.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Bernadette S. Aulestia sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.45, for a total transaction of $82,225.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $328,900. This represents a 20.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 127,493 shares of company stock worth $20,354,366. Corporate insiders own 6.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Nexstar Media Group by 27,180.2% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,206,877 shares of the company’s stock worth $190,650,000 after purchasing an additional 1,202,453 shares in the last quarter. Demars Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Nexstar Media Group by 16,009.5% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Nexstar Media Group during the 4th quarter valued at $44,460,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Nexstar Media Group during the 4th quarter valued at $35,560,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Nexstar Media Group by 185.0% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 219,561 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,684,000 after acquiring an additional 142,520 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.30% of the company’s stock.

Nexstar Media Group Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $5.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 1.45. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $155.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $163.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.98.

Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $7.56 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $9.22 by ($1.66). The business had revenue of $1.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.48 billion. Nexstar Media Group had a return on equity of 26.03% and a net margin of 11.39%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Nexstar Media Group, Inc. will post 21.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nexstar Media Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 12th were issued a dividend of $1.86 per share. This is a positive change from Nexstar Media Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.69. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 12th. This represents a $7.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.40%. Nexstar Media Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.03%.

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.