Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST) to Issue $1.69 Quarterly Dividend

Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, July 26th, Zacks reports. Investors of record on Friday, August 9th will be paid a dividend of 1.69 per share on Friday, August 23rd. This represents a $6.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 9th.

Nexstar Media Group has raised its dividend by an average of 34.1% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 11 years. Nexstar Media Group has a dividend payout ratio of 41.6% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Nexstar Media Group to earn $19.27 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $6.76 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 35.1%.

Nexstar Media Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ:NXST opened at $183.36 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $6.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.85, a current ratio of 1.80 and a quick ratio of 1.80. Nexstar Media Group has a 1-year low of $132.30 and a 1-year high of $187.32. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $163.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $166.39.

Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 9th. The company reported $5.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.28 by $0.88. Nexstar Media Group had a net margin of 8.29% and a return on equity of 17.18%. The business had revenue of $1.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.29 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.97 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Nexstar Media Group will post 27.62 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Nexstar Media Group

In other Nexstar Media Group news, insider Gary Weitman sold 432 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.43, for a total value of $72,329.76. Following the sale, the insider now owns 10,902 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,825,321.86. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Lee Ann Gliha sold 326 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.00, for a total transaction of $52,160.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 5,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $873,920. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Gary Weitman sold 432 shares of Nexstar Media Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.43, for a total value of $72,329.76. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 10,902 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,825,321.86. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 6,826 shares of company stock valued at $1,080,597 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 5.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Loop Capital upgraded Nexstar Media Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Nexstar Media Group from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $190.00 to $221.00 in a research note on Monday, May 13th. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Nexstar Media Group in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. Finally, Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Nexstar Media Group in a research report on Tuesday. Two 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. According to MarketBeat, Nexstar Media Group presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $203.67.

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.