Critical Analysis: Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST) and Liberty Media Corporation – Liberty Live Series C (NASDAQ:LLYVK)

Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST) and Liberty Media Corporation – Liberty Live Series C (NASDAQ:LLYVK) are both mid-cap consumer discretionary companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, risk, analyst recommendations, earnings, valuation, profitability and dividends.

Profitability

This table compares Nexstar Media Group and Liberty Media Corporation – Liberty Live Series C’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Nexstar Media Group	11.90%	28.40%	5.52%
Liberty Media Corporation – Liberty Live Series C	N/A	N/A	N/A

Institutional & Insider Ownership

95.3% of Nexstar Media Group shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 60.4% of Liberty Media Corporation – Liberty Live Series C shares are owned by institutional investors. 6.7% of Nexstar Media Group shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Risk and Volatility

Nexstar Media Group has a beta of 1.01, meaning that its share price is 1% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Liberty Media Corporation – Liberty Live Series C has a beta of 1.37, meaning that its share price is 37% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Nexstar Media Group and Liberty Media Corporation – Liberty Live Series C, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Nexstar Media Group	0	1	7	0	2.88
Liberty Media Corporation – Liberty Live Series C	1	1	0	0	1.50

Nexstar Media Group currently has a consensus target price of $225.00, indicating a potential upside of 10.74%. Given Nexstar Media Group’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Nexstar Media Group is more favorable than Liberty Media Corporation – Liberty Live Series C.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Nexstar Media Group and Liberty Media Corporation – Liberty Live Series C”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Nexstar Media Group	$5.41 billion	1.14	$722.00 million	$19.26	10.55
Liberty Media Corporation – Liberty Live Series C	N/A	N/A	N/A	($3.12)	-27.79

Nexstar Media Group has higher revenue and earnings than Liberty Media Corporation – Liberty Live Series C. Liberty Media Corporation – Liberty Live Series C is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Nexstar Media Group, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Nexstar Media Group beats Liberty Media Corporation – Liberty Live Series C on 11 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

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. The company offers video and display advertising platforms that are delivered locally or nationally through its own and various third party websites, mobile and over-the-top applications, other digital media solutions to media publishers, and advertisers and a consumer product reviews platform. In addition, it owns NewsNation, a national cable news network; and WGN-AM, a Chicago radio station, as well as owns and operates digital multicast networks and other multicast network services. Further, its digital assets include local websites, mobile applications, connected television applications, free-ad supported television channels representing products of local television stations, The CW, The Hill and BestReviews, and a suite of advertising solutions. Additionally, the company engages in digital business; and management of real estate assets, including leasing of owned office and production facilities. Its stations are affiliates of ABC, NBC, FOX, CBS, The CW, MyNetworkTV, and other broadcast television networks. The company was formerly known as Nexstar Broadcasting Group, Inc. and changed its name to Nexstar Media Group, Inc. in January 2017. Nexstar Media Group, Inc. was founded in 1996 and is headquartered in Irving, Texas.

About Liberty Media Corporation – Liberty Live Series C

Liberty Live Group operates in the media, communications, and entertainment industries primarily in North America and the United Kingdom. The company is headquartered in Englewood, Colorado.