Norges Bank Buys New Position in Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST)

Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 281,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,460,000. Norges Bank owned 0.91% of Nexstar Media Group as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NXST. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P increased its holdings in shares of Nexstar Media Group by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 77,631 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,263,000 after acquiring an additional 3,009 shares during the period. Zions Bancorporation N.A. raised its holdings in shares of Nexstar Media Group by 17.6% in the fourth quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 14,381 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,272,000 after buying an additional 2,155 shares during the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Nexstar Media Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $340,000. LPL Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Nexstar Media Group by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 20,506 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,166,000 after buying an additional 1,828 shares during the period. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new position in shares of Nexstar Media Group during the fourth quarter worth about $1,264,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.30% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Nexstar Media Group

In other news, insider Gary Weitman sold 1,241 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.21, for a total transaction of $219,917.61. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 3,975 shares in the company, valued at $704,409.75. This represents a 23.79 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Andrew Alford sold 3,768 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.98, for a total transaction of $685,700.64. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 5,405 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $983,601.90. The trade was a 41.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 39,105 shares of company stock valued at $6,722,463. Insiders own 6.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NXST has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Loop Capital raised Nexstar Media Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $190.00 to $200.00 in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of Nexstar Media Group in a research report on Monday, March 10th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Nexstar Media Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Guggenheim lifted their target price on shares of Nexstar Media Group from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Nexstar Media Group in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Nexstar Media Group has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $208.43.

Nexstar Media Group Trading Down 8.1 %

Shares of NXST opened at $153.42 on Friday. Nexstar Media Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $146.04 and a twelve month high of $191.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.87, a PEG ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 1.09. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $164.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $164.89.

Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST) last released its quarterly earnings results 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). Nexstar Media Group had a return on equity of 26.03% and a net margin of 11.39%. The firm had revenue of $1.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.48 billion. On average, research analysts predict that Nexstar Media Group, Inc. will post 21.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nexstar Media Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 12th were given a $1.86 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 12th. This represents a $7.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.85%. This is a boost from Nexstar Media Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.69. Nexstar Media Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.56%.

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.