Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST) Shares Gap Up – Time to Buy?

Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST)’s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $146.34, but opened at $163.00. Nexstar Media Group shares last traded at $165.27, with a volume of 130,809 shares changing hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on NXST shares. Loop Capital upgraded shares of Nexstar Media Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $190.00 to $200.00 in a research note on Friday. Benchmark raised their price objective on shares of Nexstar Media Group from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Nexstar Media Group in a research report on Thursday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Nexstar Media Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, 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. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $210.29.

Nexstar Media Group Price Performance

The company’s fifty day moving average price is $155.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $163.29. The company has a market capitalization of $5.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.78, a PEG ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.98.

Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST) last announced 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). Nexstar Media Group had a return on equity of 26.03% and a net margin of 11.39%. The business had revenue of $1.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.48 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Nexstar Media Group, Inc. will post 21.62 EPS for the current year.

Nexstar Media Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 12th. This is a boost from Nexstar Media Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.69. This represents a $7.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.40%. Nexstar Media Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.03%.

Insider Transactions at Nexstar Media Group

In related news, Director Lisbeth Mcnabb sold 875 shares of Nexstar Media Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.00, for a total value of $150,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,752 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $989,344. This trade represents a 13.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Perry A. Sook sold 52,808 shares of Nexstar Media Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $157.41, for a total transaction of $8,312,507.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 674,694 shares in the company, valued at $106,203,582.54. This trade represents a 7.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 127,493 shares of company stock valued at $20,354,366. 6.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Nexstar Media Group by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,331,355 shares of the company’s stock valued at $210,314,000 after buying an additional 4,704 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in 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 valued at $190,650,000 after buying an additional 1,202,453 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Nexstar Media Group by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,102,126 shares of the company’s stock valued at $174,103,000 after buying an additional 18,675 shares in the last quarter. Demars Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Nexstar Media Group by 16,009.5% in the fourth quarter. Demars Financial Group LLC now owns 773,737 shares of the company’s stock valued at $122,227,000 after buying an additional 768,934 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Nexstar Media Group by 22.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 463,139 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,162,000 after buying an additional 84,367 shares in the last quarter. 95.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.