StockNews.com Upgrades Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST) to “Buy”

Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST) was upgraded by StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on the company. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Nexstar Media Group in a report on Friday, August 9th. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Nexstar Media Group in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Nexstar Media Group from $221.00 to $209.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $201.67.

Nexstar Media Group Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of Nexstar Media Group stock opened at $162.01 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.78, a quick ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.92. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $170.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $165.63. Nexstar Media Group has a 12-month low of $132.30 and a 12-month high of $187.27. The company has a market capitalization of $5.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.18 and a beta of 1.50.

Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $3.54 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.48 by ($0.94). Nexstar Media Group had a net margin of 8.68% and a return on equity of 18.65%. The firm had revenue of $1.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.64 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Nexstar Media Group will post 25.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Nexstar Media Group

In other Nexstar Media Group news, insider Gary Weitman sold 522 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.08, for a total transaction of $77,819.76. Following the sale, the insider now owns 12,477 shares in the company, valued at $1,860,071.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider Gary Weitman sold 522 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.08, for a total value of $77,819.76. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,477 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,860,071.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Sean Compton sold 3,930 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.61, for a total transaction of $631,197.30. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,684 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,715,957.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 17,911 shares of company stock worth $2,939,762. Corporate insiders own 5.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nexstar Media Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in NXST. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Nexstar Media Group by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,370,415 shares of the company’s stock valued at $580,689,000 after acquiring an additional 127,783 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Nexstar Media Group by 4.9% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,326,476 shares of the company’s stock valued at $220,189,000 after purchasing an additional 62,331 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors bought a new stake in Nexstar Media Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $92,323,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in Nexstar Media Group by 392.6% in the 4th quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 450,351 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,593,000 after buying an additional 358,920 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in Nexstar Media Group by 0.5% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 418,815 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,528,000 after acquiring an additional 2,145 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.30% 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.