Barrington Research Has Negative Outlook of NXST Q4 Earnings

Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST) – Equities research analysts at Barrington Research dropped their Q4 2025 earnings per share estimates for shares of Nexstar Media Group in a research note issued on Wednesday, March 5th. Barrington Research analyst P. Sholl now anticipates that the company will post earnings of $3.72 per share for the quarter, down from their prior forecast of $3.83. Barrington Research has a “Outperform” rating and a $200.00 price target on the stock. The consensus estimate for Nexstar Media Group’s current full-year earnings is $21.62 per share. Barrington Research also issued estimates for Nexstar Media Group’s Q1 2026 earnings at $3.84 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $2.93 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $6.09 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $10.73 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $23.39 EPS.

Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The company reported $7.56 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.22 by ($1.66). The firm had revenue of $1.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.48 billion. Nexstar Media Group had a return on equity of 26.03% and a net margin of 11.39%.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on NXST. Benchmark boosted their price objective on Nexstar Media Group from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Loop Capital raised Nexstar Media Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $190.00 to $200.00 in a report on Friday, February 28th. Guggenheim lifted their target price on Nexstar Media Group from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Nexstar Media Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $210.29.

Nexstar Media Group Trading Up 3.0 %

Shares of NXST stock opened at $177.85 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.29, a P/E/G ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 1.45. Nexstar Media Group has a twelve month low of $146.04 and a twelve month 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. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $156.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $163.75.

Nexstar Media Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 12th were paid a $1.86 dividend. This represents a $7.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.18%. This is an increase from Nexstar Media Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.69. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 12th. Nexstar Media Group’s payout ratio is currently 34.56%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Lisbeth Mcnabb sold 875 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.00, for a total value of $150,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,752 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $989,344. The trade was a 13.20 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Perry A. Sook sold 35,205 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.13, for a total value of $5,707,786.65. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 674,694 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $109,388,138.22. The trade was a 4.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 162,830 shares of company stock valued at $26,391,128 in the last ninety days. 6.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Nexstar Media Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in Nexstar Media Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Nexstar Media Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new stake in Nexstar Media Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in Nexstar Media Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in Nexstar Media Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $44,000. 95.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Nexstar Media Group Company Profile

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.