Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST) Stock Rating Raised to “Hold” at Zacks Research

Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST) was upgraded by Zacks Research from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, Zacks reports.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Nexstar Media Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 7th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Nexstar Media Group from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Weiss Ratings upgraded Nexstar Media Group from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Nexstar Media Group from $249.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank reduced their price target on Nexstar Media Group from $255.00 to $240.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 10th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Nexstar Media Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $257.50.

Nexstar Media Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:NXST opened at $209.74 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $6.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.08 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $169.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $191.62. Nexstar Media Group has a one year low of $153.17 and a one year high of $254.30.

Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 5th. The company reported $7.92 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.08 by ($0.16). The company had revenue of $2.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.07 billion. Nexstar Media Group had a net margin of 5.48% and a return on equity of 32.25%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 78.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.14 EPS. Research analysts predict that Nexstar Media Group will post 33.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Dana Zimmer sold 4,008 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $187.46, for a total value of $751,339.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 1,792 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $335,928.32. This represents a 69.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew Alford sold 2,823 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.69, for a total value of $467,742.87. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 11,726 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,942,880.94. The trade was a 19.40% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 9,596 shares of company stock valued at $1,733,169 in the last quarter. 7.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nexstar Media Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in Nexstar Media Group by 1.8% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 643,864 shares of the company’s stock valued at $116,427,000 after acquiring an additional 11,477 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Nexstar Media Group by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 488,744 shares of the company’s stock valued at $88,381,000 after purchasing an additional 7,661 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Nexstar Media Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $47,578,000. Boston Partners raised its holdings in Nexstar Media Group by 480.4% during the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 174,435 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,109,000 after purchasing an additional 144,382 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in Nexstar Media Group by 17.0% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 173,269 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,332,000 after purchasing an additional 25,193 shares during the last quarter. 95.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Nexstar Media Group Company Profile

Nexstar Media Group is a U.S. media company focused on local television broadcasting and national programming. It owns and operates local television stations across the country, many affiliated with major broadcast networks, and produces local news, sports, and other programming for viewers in their communities. The company also operates NewsNation, a national news and entertainment network, and holds a majority interest in The CW. Its digital businesses distribute news and other content online, while advertising and fees for carrying its stations and networks are among its business activities.