Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST) Rating Lowered to “Strong Sell” at Zacks Research

Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST) was downgraded by equities researchers at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research firms have also commented on NXST. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Nexstar Media Group in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $290.00 price objective on shares of Nexstar Media Group in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Nexstar Media Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, July 12th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Nexstar Media Group from $253.00 to $249.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on Nexstar Media Group from $270.00 to $255.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 11th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $259.00.

Nexstar Media Group Stock Down 3.7%

Shares of NASDAQ NXST opened at $184.56 on Monday. Nexstar Media Group has a 52-week low of $154.47 and a 52-week high of $254.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.53, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a current ratio of 1.76. The business has a fifty day moving average of $179.52 and a two-hundred day moving average of $200.43. The stock has a market cap of $5.69 billion, a PE ratio of 35.42, a PEG ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 0.91.

Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $3.61 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.98 by ($2.37). The firm had revenue of $1.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.97 billion. Nexstar Media Group had a return on equity of 24.26% and a net margin of 3.20%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 62.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.06 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Nexstar Media Group will post 37.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nexstar Media Group

In other Nexstar Media Group news, Director Charles Thomas Mcmillen sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.00, for a total value of $180,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 5,658 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,018,440. This trade represents a 15.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Michael Biard sold 1,227 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.21, for a total transaction of $213,755.67. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 17,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,979,862.05. This represents a 6.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold 22,813 shares of company stock worth $4,174,731 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 7.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Nexstar Media Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Nexstar Media Group by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,402,272 shares of the company’s stock worth $284,738,000 after purchasing an additional 10,949 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Nexstar Media Group by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,181,727 shares of the company’s stock valued at $239,950,000 after buying an additional 23,360 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its position in Nexstar Media Group by 27.1% in the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 882,322 shares of the company’s stock valued at $152,598,000 after buying an additional 187,864 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Nexstar Media Group by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 773,443 shares of the company’s stock valued at $157,114,000 after buying an additional 13,084 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Nexstar Media Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,241,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.30% of the company’s stock.

Nexstar Media Group Company Profile

Nexstar Media Group, Inc is a diversified American media company engaged primarily in the ownership, operation and strategic affiliation of local television stations, digital platforms and cable networks. The company provides a range of broadcast content, including local news, sports coverage, entertainment programming and syndicated shows, reaching audiences in more than 100 television markets across the United States.

Founded in 1996 by entrepreneur Perry Sook and headquartered in Irving, Texas, Nexstar has built its presence through organic growth and a series of high-profile acquisitions.