Crawford Fund Management LLC Acquires 5,000 Shares of Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST)

Crawford Fund Management LLC grew its holdings in Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST) by 13.0% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 43,557 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,000 shares during the quarter. Nexstar Media Group comprises about 1.5% of Crawford Fund Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Crawford Fund Management LLC’s holdings in Nexstar Media Group were worth $7,202,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Copeland Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Nexstar Media Group by 18.1% during the third quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 547,728 shares of the company’s stock worth $90,567,000 after purchasing an additional 83,829 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Nexstar Media Group by 72.0% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 199,811 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,769,000 after purchasing an additional 83,637 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Nexstar Media Group by 4.9% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,326,476 shares of the company’s stock worth $220,189,000 after purchasing an additional 62,331 shares during the period. Long Focus Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Nexstar Media Group by 86.2% during the second quarter. Long Focus Capital Management LLC now owns 121,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,087,000 after purchasing an additional 56,000 shares during the period. Finally, Payden & Rygel raised its stake in shares of Nexstar Media Group by 40.4% in the third quarter. Payden & Rygel now owns 110,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,222,000 after acquiring an additional 31,700 shares during the last quarter. 95.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NXST has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Nexstar Media Group in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Loop Capital cut shares of Nexstar Media Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the company from $200.00 to $190.00 in a research note on Friday, November 8th. 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 note on Friday, August 9th. Guggenheim dropped their price objective 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. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Nexstar Media Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $198.50.

Nexstar Media Group Price Performance

NXST opened at $171.15 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $169.16 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $167.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a current ratio of 1.68. Nexstar Media Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $141.38 and a 52 week high of $191.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.31 billion, a PE ratio of 9.90, a P/E/G ratio of 0.20 and a beta of 1.48.

Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 11.39% and a return on equity of 26.03%. The firm had revenue of $1.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.37 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.70 EPS. Nexstar Media Group’s quarterly revenue was up 20.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Nexstar Media Group, Inc. will post 24.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Nexstar Media Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a $1.69 dividend. This represents a $6.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.95%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. Nexstar Media Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.10%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Andrew Alford sold 3,175 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.82, for a total value of $532,828.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 9,173 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,539,412.86. This represents a 25.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Charles Thomas Mcmillen sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.00, for a total transaction of $160,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,975 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,276,000. The trade was a 11.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 45,423 shares of company stock valued at $7,916,739 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 6.30% of the company’s stock.

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.