Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST) Stock Price Down 9.5% After Earnings Miss

Shares of Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST) traded down 9.5% during trading on Friday following a weaker than expected earnings announcement. The stock traded as low as $168.80 and last traded at $170.66. 427,026 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 31% from the average session volume of 325,232 shares. The stock had previously closed at $188.50.

The company reported $5.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.51 by ($0.24). Nexstar Media Group had a return on equity of 18.65% and a net margin of 8.68%. The firm had revenue of $1.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.37 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.70 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.7% compared to the same quarter last year.

Nexstar Media Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a dividend of $1.69 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $6.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.00%. Nexstar Media Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.14%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on NXST. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on Nexstar Media Group from $207.00 to $205.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Nexstar Media Group from $221.00 to $209.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 9th. StockNews.com cut Nexstar Media Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Guggenheim dropped their target price on Nexstar Media Group from $200.00 to $198.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $215.00 target price on shares of Nexstar Media Group in a research report on Friday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $198.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Nexstar Media Group news, EVP Rachel Morgan sold 6,196 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.30, for a total value of $1,061,374.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Nexstar Media Group news, EVP Rachel Morgan sold 6,196 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.30, for a total value of $1,061,374.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Sean Compton sold 3,930 shares of Nexstar Media Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.61, for a total transaction of $631,197.30. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 10,684 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,715,957.24. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 41,112 shares of company stock valued at $6,887,029 in the last ninety days. 6.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Nexstar Media Group

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Nexstar Media Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $2,111,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in Nexstar Media Group by 116.3% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 30,384 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,235,000 after purchasing an additional 16,338 shares during the period. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp raised its position in Nexstar Media Group by 1.4% in the first quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 28,211 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,860,000 after purchasing an additional 379 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in Nexstar Media Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $702,000. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in shares of Nexstar Media Group by 13.0% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 21,624 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,726,000 after acquiring an additional 2,481 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.30% of the company’s stock.

Nexstar Media Group Trading Down 10.3 %

The business’s 50 day moving average is $168.63 and its 200 day moving average is $166.91. The stock has a market cap of $5.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.50, a P/E/G ratio of 0.20 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.92, a current ratio of 1.78 and a quick ratio of 1.78.

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.