Prospect Capital Advisors LLC Lowers Stake in Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST)

Prospect Capital Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST) by 13.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,500 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,150 shares during the period. Nexstar Media Group accounts for about 0.7% of Prospect Capital Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Prospect Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Nexstar Media Group were worth $1,185,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of NXST. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Nexstar Media Group by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,331,355 shares of the company’s stock valued at $210,314,000 after purchasing an additional 4,704 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Nexstar Media Group by 27,180.2% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,206,877 shares of the company’s stock valued at $190,650,000 after acquiring an additional 1,202,453 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Nexstar Media Group by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,102,126 shares of the company’s stock valued at $174,103,000 after acquiring an additional 18,675 shares during the period. Demars Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Nexstar Media Group by 16,009.5% during the 4th quarter. Demars Financial Group LLC now owns 773,737 shares of the company’s stock valued at $122,227,000 after acquiring an additional 768,934 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Nexstar Media Group by 22.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 463,139 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,162,000 after acquiring an additional 84,367 shares during the period. 95.30% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Nexstar Media Group Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of NXST opened at $174.59 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $162.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $162.22. Nexstar Media Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $141.66 and a 1 year high of $191.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 1.68. The firm has a market cap of $5.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 1.06.

Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $3.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.26 by $0.11. Nexstar Media Group had a net margin of 11.39% and a return on equity of 26.03%. The firm had revenue of $1.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.23 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $5.16 earnings per share. Nexstar Media Group’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Nexstar Media Group, Inc. will post 21.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nexstar Media Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be paid a dividend of $1.86 per share. This represents a $7.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.26%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 19th. Nexstar Media Group’s payout ratio is 37.69%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on NXST. Loop Capital upgraded shares of Nexstar Media Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $190.00 to $200.00 in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Nexstar Media Group from $216.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Nexstar Media Group in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Guggenheim raised their target price on shares of Nexstar Media Group from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Nexstar Media Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Nexstar Media Group currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $205.71.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Charles Thomas Mcmillen sold 2,000 shares of Nexstar Media Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.51, for a total value of $339,020.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,975 shares in the company, valued at $843,312.25. This trade represents a 28.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Gary Weitman sold 1,241 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.21, for a total value of $219,917.61. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 3,975 shares in the company, valued at approximately $704,409.75. This represents a 23.79% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 39,105 shares of company stock valued at $6,722,463 over the last three months. 6.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.