Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST) Given Buy Rating at Rosenblatt Securities

Rosenblatt Securities reiterated their buy rating on shares of Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST) in a research note released on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $200.00 price target on the stock.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on NXST. Loop Capital upgraded shares of Nexstar Media Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $190.00 to $200.00 in a research note on Friday, February 28th. StockNews.com cut shares of Nexstar Media Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Benchmark increased their target price on shares of Nexstar Media Group from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Guggenheim increased their target price on shares of Nexstar Media Group from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Nexstar Media Group in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Nexstar Media Group currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $208.43.

Nexstar Media Group Stock Up 0.1 %

NXST stock opened at $169.16 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 1.68. Nexstar Media Group has a 52-week low of $146.04 and a 52-week high of $191.86. The company has a 50-day moving average of $157.22 and a two-hundred day moving average of $163.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 1.47.

Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST) last released its quarterly 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). Nexstar Media Group had a net margin of 11.39% and a return on equity of 26.03%. The firm had revenue of $1.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.48 billion. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Nexstar Media Group will post 21.62 EPS for the current year.

Nexstar Media Group Increases Dividend

The company 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.40%. Nexstar Media Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.56%.

Insider Transactions at Nexstar Media Group

In other news, CFO Lee Ann Gliha sold 330 shares of the 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 directly owns 8,610 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,362,360.30. This represents a 3.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Perry A. Sook sold 52,808 shares of the 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 sale, 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 90 days, insiders sold 161,455 shares of company stock valued at $26,158,403. Corporate insiders own 6.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nexstar Media Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of Nexstar Media Group during the third quarter worth $44,000. CWA Asset Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in Nexstar Media Group in the 3rd quarter valued at $312,000. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. increased its stake in Nexstar Media Group by 24.7% in the 3rd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 2,391 shares of the company’s stock valued at $396,000 after buying an additional 474 shares during the last quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management increased its stake in Nexstar Media Group by 9.7% in the 3rd quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management now owns 4,603 shares of the company’s stock valued at $761,000 after buying an additional 406 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Nexstar Media Group by 2,074.2% in the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 674 shares of the company’s stock valued at $111,000 after buying an additional 643 shares during the last quarter. 95.30% of the stock is owned by 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.