Guggenheim Reaffirms “Buy” Rating for Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST)

Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by investment analysts at Guggenheim in a report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of Nexstar Media Group in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $215.00 price target on shares of Nexstar Media Group in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Loop Capital cut Nexstar Media Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $200.00 to $190.00 in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Nexstar Media Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $204.29.

Nexstar Media Group Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of Nexstar Media Group stock opened at $156.39 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $161.87 and a 200 day moving average of $167.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a current ratio of 1.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.05, 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.

Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $5.27 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.37 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.70 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Nexstar Media Group will post 24.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Bernadette S. Aulestia sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.45, for a total transaction of $82,225.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $328,900. This represents a 20.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Perry A. Sook sold 12,239 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.28, for a total value of $2,328,836.92. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 674,694 shares in the company, valued at $128,380,774.32. This trade represents a 1.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 146,448 shares of company stock worth $23,828,076. 6.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nexstar Media Group

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NXST. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in shares of Nexstar Media Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new stake in Nexstar Media Group in the third quarter valued at $30,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in Nexstar Media Group in the third quarter valued at $33,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of Nexstar Media Group during the third quarter worth about $44,000. Finally, Quarry LP increased its position in shares of Nexstar Media Group by 77.8% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 297 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares in 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.