Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST) Shares Purchased by Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST) by 61.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 95,291 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 36,381 shares during the period. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Nexstar Media Group were worth $15,053,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of NXST. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its holdings in shares of Nexstar Media Group by 8.2% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 5,142 shares of the company’s stock valued at $812,000 after purchasing an additional 389 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Nexstar Media Group in the 4th quarter valued at $44,460,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P increased its stake in shares of Nexstar Media Group by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 77,631 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,263,000 after acquiring an additional 3,009 shares during the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. raised its holdings in shares of Nexstar Media Group by 17.6% during the 4th quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 14,381 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,272,000 after acquiring an additional 2,155 shares during the period. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Nexstar Media Group during the 4th quarter worth $340,000. 95.30% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NXST has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. 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, February 28th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Nexstar Media Group in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Loop Capital upgraded Nexstar Media Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $190.00 to $200.00 in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Guggenheim raised their target price on Nexstar Media Group from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Nexstar Media Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $208.43.

Nexstar Media Group Stock Down 1.7 %

NASDAQ:NXST opened at $176.45 on Monday. Nexstar Media Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $146.04 and a 52 week high of $191.86. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $162.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $164.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 1.47. 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 posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $7.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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%. Research analysts anticipate 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. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 12th were issued a dividend of $1.86 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 12th. 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 4.22%. Nexstar Media Group’s dividend payout ratio is 34.56%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nexstar Media Group

In related news, CEO Perry A. Sook sold 32,096 shares of Nexstar Media Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.67, for a total value of $5,477,824.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 806,019 shares in the company, valued at $137,563,262.73. The trade was a 3.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Charles Thomas Mcmillen sold 2,000 shares of Nexstar Media Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.51, for a total transaction of $339,020.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4,975 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $843,312.25. This trade represents a 28.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 39,105 shares of company stock valued at $6,722,463 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 6.30% of the company’s stock.

Nexstar Media Group 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.