Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Decreases Position in Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST)

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. reduced its position in shares of Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST) by 96.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,769 shares of the company’s stock after selling 77,476 shares during the period. Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s holdings in Nexstar Media Group were worth $437,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Nexstar Media Group by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,102,126 shares of the company’s stock valued at $174,103,000 after purchasing an additional 18,675 shares during the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its holdings in shares of Nexstar Media Group by 99.5% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 786 shares of the company’s stock worth $124,000 after buying an additional 392 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Nexstar Media Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its stake in shares of Nexstar Media Group by 15.3% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 550 shares of the company’s stock worth $87,000 after buying an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bruni J V & Co. Co. boosted its position in Nexstar Media Group by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Bruni J V & Co. Co. now owns 194,568 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,736,000 after acquiring an additional 1,568 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NXST has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Nexstar Media Group in a report on Wednesday. Benchmark boosted their price target on shares of Nexstar Media Group from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Guggenheim raised their price objective 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, February 28th. Loop Capital raised shares of Nexstar Media Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $190.00 to $200.00 in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Nexstar Media Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Nexstar Media Group currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $210.29.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Perry A. Sook sold 52,808 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $157.41, for a total value of $8,312,507.28. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 674,694 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $106,203,582.54. This trade represents a 7.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Lisbeth Mcnabb sold 875 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.00, for a total transaction of $150,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,752 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $989,344. This trade represents a 13.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 161,589 shares of company stock valued at $26,171,210 in the last three months. 6.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Nexstar Media Group Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NXST opened at $169.63 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $155.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $163.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a current ratio of 1.68. Nexstar Media Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $146.04 and a 1 year high of $191.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.26 billion, a PE ratio of 9.81, a P/E/G ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 1.45.

Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $7.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.22 by ($1.66). The business had revenue of $1.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.48 billion. Nexstar Media Group had a return on equity of 26.03% and a net margin of 11.39%. 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 12th were issued a $1.86 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 12th. This is a positive change from Nexstar Media Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.69. This represents a $7.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.39%. Nexstar Media Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.56%.

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.