Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST) Price Target Raised to $225.00 at Benchmark

Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST) had its price target hoisted by Benchmark from $200.00 to $225.00 in a research note released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Nexstar Media Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Guggenheim lifted their target price on shares of Nexstar Media Group from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Loop Capital raised shares of Nexstar Media Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $190.00 to $200.00 in a report on Friday. Finally, Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Nexstar Media Group in a report on Thursday. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $210.29.

Nexstar Media Group Stock Up 4.0 %

NXST opened at $169.15 on Friday. Nexstar Media Group has a twelve month low of $146.04 and a twelve month high of $191.86. The company has a quick ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.98. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $155.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $163.29. The company has a market cap of $5.25 billion, a PE ratio of 9.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 1.45.

Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST) last announced 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). The firm 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%. Sell-side analysts expect that Nexstar Media Group will post 21.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nexstar Media Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 12th were paid a dividend of $1.86 per share. 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 4.40%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 12th. Nexstar Media Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.03%.

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 stock was sold at an average price of $158.23, for a total value of $52,215.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 8,610 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,362,360.30. This represents a 3.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Perry A. Sook sold 52,808 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $157.41, for a total value of $8,312,507.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 674,694 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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. Insiders sold a total of 127,493 shares of company stock valued at $20,354,366 in the last three months. 6.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in NXST. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Nexstar Media Group by 27,180.2% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,206,877 shares of the company’s stock valued at $190,650,000 after purchasing an additional 1,202,453 shares during the period. Demars Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Nexstar Media Group by 16,009.5% during the 4th quarter. Demars Financial Group LLC now owns 773,737 shares of the company’s stock worth $122,227,000 after purchasing an additional 768,934 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Nexstar Media Group during the 4th quarter worth $44,460,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Nexstar Media Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,560,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Nexstar Media Group by 185.0% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 219,561 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,684,000 after purchasing an additional 142,520 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.