Weaver C. Barksdale & Associates Inc. Decreases Stake in Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST)

Weaver C. Barksdale & Associates Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST) by 1.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 11,208 shares of the company’s stock after selling 173 shares during the quarter. Nexstar Media Group accounts for about 1.8% of Weaver C. Barksdale & Associates Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest position. Weaver C. Barksdale & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Nexstar Media Group were worth $1,861,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its stake in Nexstar Media Group by 41.1% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 295 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC grew its position in shares of Nexstar Media Group by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 3,066 shares of the company’s stock worth $481,000 after buying an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Nexstar Media Group in the fourth quarter worth $232,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Nexstar Media Group in the first quarter valued at $2,111,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Nexstar Media Group by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,370,415 shares of the company’s stock valued at $580,689,000 after acquiring an additional 127,783 shares during the last quarter. 95.30% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Lee Ann Gliha sold 984 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $157.63, for a total transaction of $155,107.92. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 8,107 shares in the company, valued at $1,277,906.41. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Lee Ann Gliha sold 984 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 8,107 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,277,906.41. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Jay M. Grossman sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.70, for a total value of $1,707,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 54,625 shares in the company, valued at $9,324,487.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 27,644 shares of company stock worth $4,643,760. 5.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Nexstar Media Group Price Performance

Shares of NXST opened at $167.66 on Friday. Nexstar Media Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $132.30 and a 12 month high of $187.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.92, a current ratio of 1.78 and a quick ratio of 1.78. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $170.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $165.69. The company has a market cap of $5.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.18, a PEG ratio of 0.18 and a beta of 1.50.

Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $3.54 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.48 by ($0.94). The firm had revenue of $1.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.28 billion. Nexstar Media Group had a return on equity of 18.65% and a net margin of 8.68%. The firm’s revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.64 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Nexstar Media Group, Inc. will post 25.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Nexstar Media Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 9th were paid a dividend of $1.69 per share. This represents a $6.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 9th. Nexstar Media Group’s payout ratio is currently 57.19%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on NXST. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Nexstar Media Group in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Nexstar Media Group in a report on Friday, August 9th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Nexstar Media Group from $221.00 to $209.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 9th. StockNews.com lowered Nexstar Media Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on Nexstar Media Group from $207.00 to $205.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $201.67.

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.