Benchmark Reaffirms "Buy" Rating for Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST)

Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy" rating reaffirmed by equities researchers at Benchmark in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $215.00 price target on the stock. Benchmark's price objective suggests a potential upside of 29.49% from the stock's previous close.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Nexstar Media Group from $221.00 to $209.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 9th. Loop Capital lowered Nexstar Media Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their target price for the company from $200.00 to $190.00 in a report on Friday. Guggenheim cut their price target on Nexstar Media Group from $200.00 to $198.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on Nexstar Media Group from $207.00 to $205.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Barrington Research restated an "outperform" rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Nexstar Media Group in a research note on Thursday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $198.50.

Nexstar Media Group Trading Down 11.9 %

NASDAQ NXST traded down $22.46 on Friday, reaching $166.04. The stock had a trading volume of 1,148,299 shares, compared to its average volume of 328,556. The company has a quick ratio of 1.78, a current ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.92. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $168.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $166.91. Nexstar Media Group has a 12-month low of $140.92 and a 12-month high of $191.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.02, a P/E/G ratio of 0.20 and a beta of 1.48.

Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $5.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.51 by ($0.24). The firm had revenue of $1.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.37 billion. Nexstar Media Group had a return on equity of 18.65% and a net margin of 8.68%. Nexstar Media Group's revenue was up 20.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.70 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Nexstar Media Group will post 25.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Nexstar Media Group

In other news, CFO Lee Ann Gliha sold 984 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $157.63, for a total transaction of $155,107.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 8,107 shares in the company, valued at $1,277,906.41. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Nexstar Media Group news, insider Sean Compton sold 3,930 shares of Nexstar Media Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.61, for a total value of $631,197.30. Following the sale, the insider now owns 10,684 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,715,957.24. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Lee Ann Gliha sold 984 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $157.63, for a total value of $155,107.92. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 8,107 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,277,906.41. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 41,112 shares of company stock worth $6,887,029 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 6.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of NXST. Whittier Trust Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Nexstar Media Group during the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in Nexstar Media Group by 3,700.0% during the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 266 shares of the company's stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 259 shares in the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in Nexstar Media Group during the third quarter worth about $44,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Nexstar Media Group by 112.2% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 295 shares of the company's stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 156 shares during the period. Finally, Mascoma Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Nexstar Media Group in the second quarter valued at about $49,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.30% of the company's stock.

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.