Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST) Price Target Lowered to $249.00 at Wells Fargo & Company

Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST) had its target price trimmed by Wells Fargo & Company from $253.00 to $249.00 in a report issued on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $290.00 price target on shares of Nexstar Media Group in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Nexstar Media Group in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Nexstar Media Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $252.00 to $220.00 in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on shares of Nexstar Media Group from $270.00 to $255.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Nexstar Media Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $259.00.

Nexstar Media Group Trading Up 3.1%

Shares of NXST opened at $193.78 on Friday. Nexstar Media Group has a fifty-two week low of $154.47 and a fifty-two week high of $254.30. The business has a 50-day moving average of $179.31 and a 200 day moving average of $200.88. The firm has a market cap of $5.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.53, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a current ratio of 1.76.

Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $3.61 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.98 by ($2.37). The business had revenue of $1.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.97 billion. Nexstar Media Group had a net margin of 3.20% and a return on equity of 24.26%. Nexstar Media Group’s revenue for the quarter was up 62.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.06 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Nexstar Media Group will post 37.46 EPS for the current year.

Nexstar Media Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be given a $1.86 dividend. This represents a $7.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. Nexstar Media Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 159.66%.

Insider Activity at Nexstar Media Group

In other Nexstar Media Group news, Director Charles Thomas Mcmillen sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.00, for a total value of $180,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 5,658 shares in the company, valued at $1,018,440. This represents a 15.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Michael Biard sold 1,227 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.21, for a total transaction of $213,755.67. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 17,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,979,862.05. The trade was a 6.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold 22,813 shares of company stock valued at $4,174,731 in the last quarter. 7.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Nexstar Media Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new position in Nexstar Media Group in the 1st quarter worth about $499,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Nexstar Media Group by 49.4% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 15,870 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,844,000 after acquiring an additional 5,251 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Nexstar Media Group by 571.4% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 72,650 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,020,000 after acquiring an additional 61,830 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its position in shares of Nexstar Media Group by 14.3% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 132,809 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,802,000 after acquiring an additional 16,637 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Nexstar Media Group during the first quarter worth about $654,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.30% of the company’s stock.

Nexstar Media Group Company Profile

Nexstar Media Group, Inc is a diversified American media company engaged primarily in the ownership, operation and strategic affiliation of local television stations, digital platforms and cable networks. The company provides a range of broadcast content, including local news, sports coverage, entertainment programming and syndicated shows, reaching audiences in more than 100 television markets across the United States.

Founded in 1996 by entrepreneur Perry Sook and headquartered in Irving, Texas, Nexstar has built its presence through organic growth and a series of high-profile acquisitions.