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

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

Several other research firms have also issued reports on NXST. Deutsche Bank lowered their target price on shares of Nexstar Media Group from $255.00 to $240.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Nexstar Media Group from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Nexstar Media Group from $249.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 6th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Nexstar Media Group from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Nexstar Media Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 7th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to 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 NXST stock opened at $209.74 on Tuesday. Nexstar Media Group has a fifty-two week low of $153.17 and a fifty-two week high of $254.30. The firm has a market capitalization 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 quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.26. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $169.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $191.62.

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

Insider Activity at Nexstar Media Group

In other news, Director Bernadette S. Aulestia sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $186.80, for a total transaction of $56,040.00. Following the sale, the director owned 4,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $818,744.40. This represents a 6.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew Alford sold 2,823 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.69, for a total transaction of $467,742.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 11,726 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,942,880.94. This represents a 19.40% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 9,596 shares of company stock worth $1,733,169. 7.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Nexstar Media Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in Nexstar Media Group by 17.0% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 173,269 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,332,000 after acquiring an additional 25,193 shares in the last quarter. Paralel Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Nexstar Media Group during the second quarter worth about $2,285,000. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new stake in shares of Nexstar Media Group during the second quarter worth about $1,607,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new stake in shares of Nexstar Media Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,576,000. Finally, Odyssean LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Nexstar Media Group by 188.6% in the 2nd quarter. Odyssean LLC now owns 17,036 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,042,000 after purchasing an additional 11,133 shares during the last quarter. 95.30% of the stock is currently 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.