Loop Capital Downgrades Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST) to Hold

Loop Capital cut shares of Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Friday, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have $190.00 price objective on the stock, down from their previous price objective of $200.00.

NXST has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Guggenheim cut their target price on shares of Nexstar Media Group from $200.00 to $198.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Nexstar Media Group in a research report on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on shares of Nexstar Media Group from $207.00 to $205.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Benchmark cut their target price on shares of Nexstar Media Group from $225.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Nexstar Media Group from $221.00 to $209.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $198.50.

Nexstar Media Group Stock Down 11.9 %

Shares of NXST stock traded down $22.46 on Friday, hitting $166.04. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,148,413 shares, compared to its average volume of 278,403. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.92, a current ratio of 1.78 and a quick ratio of 1.78. Nexstar Media Group has a fifty-two week low of $140.92 and a fifty-two week high of $191.86. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $168.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $166.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.05, a P/E/G ratio of 0.21 and a beta of 1.48.

Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. 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 net margin of 8.68% and a return on equity of 18.65%. The business had revenue of $1.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.37 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.70 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Nexstar Media Group will post 25.72 EPS for the current year.

Nexstar Media Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a $1.69 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $6.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.07%. Nexstar Media Group’s payout ratio is currently 53.14%.

Insider Activity at Nexstar Media Group

In related news, insider Gary Weitman sold 7,261 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.80, for a total value of $1,196,612.80. Following the sale, the insider now owns 5,216 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $859,596.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Nexstar Media Group news, insider Gary Weitman sold 7,261 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.80, for a total transaction of $1,196,612.80. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 5,216 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $859,596.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Sean Compton sold 3,930 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 16th. The stock was 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 $1,715,957.24. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 41,112 shares of company stock valued at $6,887,029 over the last quarter. 6.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Nexstar Media Group

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Nexstar Media Group during the first quarter worth approximately $2,111,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in shares of Nexstar Media Group by 116.3% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 30,384 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,235,000 after purchasing an additional 16,338 shares in the last quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 379 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in Nexstar Media Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $702,000. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in Nexstar Media Group by 13.0% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 21,624 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,726,000 after buying an additional 2,481 shares during the period. 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.