Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST) Hits New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $191.32 and last traded at $190.76, with a volume of 31832 shares. The stock had previously closed at $183.25.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on NXST. Guggenheim decreased their target price on shares of Nexstar Media Group from $200.00 to $198.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Nexstar Media Group in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Benchmark cut their target price on Nexstar Media Group from $225.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Nexstar Media Group from $221.00 to $209.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of Nexstar Media Group from $207.00 to $205.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $199.71.

Nexstar Media Group Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.92, a quick ratio of 1.78 and a current ratio of 1.78. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $168.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $166.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.41, a P/E/G ratio of 0.20 and a beta of 1.48.

Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $3.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.48 by ($0.94). The business had revenue of $1.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.28 billion. Nexstar Media Group had a net margin of 8.68% and a return on equity of 18.65%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.64 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Nexstar Media Group, Inc. will post 25.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Nexstar Media Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a $1.69 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $6.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.61%. Nexstar Media Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 53.14%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Lee Ann Gliha sold 984 shares of Nexstar Media Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $157.63, for a total value of $155,107.92. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 8,107 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,277,906.41. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Nexstar Media Group news, insider Sean Compton sold 3,930 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.61, for a total value of $631,197.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 10,684 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,715,957.24. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Lee Ann Gliha sold 984 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $157.63, for a total value of $155,107.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 8,107 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,277,906.41. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 41,112 shares of company stock worth $6,887,029. Company insiders own 6.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Nexstar Media Group

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in NXST. Capital Research Global Investors purchased a new position in shares of Nexstar Media Group during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $92,323,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Nexstar Media Group by 3.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,370,415 shares of the company’s stock valued at $580,689,000 after purchasing an additional 127,783 shares in the last quarter. Payden & Rygel Investment Group purchased a new stake in Nexstar Media Group in the 1st quarter valued at $15,144,000. Copeland Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Nexstar Media Group by 18.1% during the 3rd quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 547,728 shares of the company’s stock worth $90,567,000 after acquiring an additional 83,829 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Nexstar Media Group by 72.0% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 199,811 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,769,000 after acquiring an additional 83,637 shares during the last quarter. 95.30% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.