Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST) Earns “Buy” Rating from Guggenheim

Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by investment analysts at Guggenheim in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Nexstar Media Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Nexstar Media Group in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Loop Capital cut shares of Nexstar Media Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $200.00 to $190.00 in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $215.00 price target on shares of Nexstar Media Group in a report on Friday, November 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $204.29.

Nexstar Media Group Price Performance

Shares of NXST stock traded up $2.12 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $155.69. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 26,495 shares, compared to its average volume of 259,842. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $162.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $167.18. The company has a market capitalization of $4.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.98, a PEG ratio of 0.25 and a beta of 1.45. Nexstar Media Group has a fifty-two week low of $147.25 and a fifty-two week high of $191.86. The company has a quick ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.98.

Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $5.27 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.51 by ($0.24). Nexstar Media Group had a return on equity of 26.03% and a net margin of 11.39%. The business had revenue of $1.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.37 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.70 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 20.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Nexstar Media Group will post 24.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Charles Thomas Mcmillen sold 750 shares of Nexstar Media Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.93, for a total transaction of $119,947.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,975 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,115,511.75. This trade represents a 9.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Bernadette S. Aulestia sold 500 shares of Nexstar Media Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.45, for a total transaction of $82,225.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $328,900. The trade was a 20.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 146,448 shares of company stock valued at $23,828,076 over the last ninety days. 6.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nexstar Media Group

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in NXST. CX Institutional raised its holdings in Nexstar Media Group by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 1,396 shares of the company’s stock worth $231,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in Nexstar Media Group by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 6,487 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,073,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in Nexstar Media Group by 7.3% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,088 shares of the company’s stock worth $181,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Nexstar Media Group by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 10,185 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,684,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Davis Capital Management raised its holdings in Nexstar Media Group by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Davis Capital Management now owns 6,270 shares of the company’s stock worth $990,000 after acquiring an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. 95.30% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.