Nexstar Media Group, Inc. Plans Quarterly Dividend of $1.69 (NASDAQ:NXST)

Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, November 1st, Zacks reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a dividend of 1.69 per share on Friday, November 29th. This represents a $6.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.82%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th.

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 45.6% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Nexstar Media Group to earn $18.00 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 37.6%.

Nexstar Media Group Stock Performance

NXST stock traded up $1.16 during trading on Friday, hitting $177.08. 353,401 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 321,084. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.92, a current ratio of 1.78 and a quick ratio of 1.78. Nexstar Media Group has a 1 year low of $140.92 and a 1 year high of $187.27. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $167.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $166.28. The company has a market cap of $5.71 billion, a PE ratio of 13.92, a P/E/G ratio of 0.20 and a beta of 1.49.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Nexstar Media Group from $221.00 to $209.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 9th. Benchmark decreased their target price on Nexstar Media Group from $225.00 to $215.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Guggenheim cut their price target on shares of Nexstar Media Group from $200.00 to $198.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 4th. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Nexstar Media Group in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on shares of 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 analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $199.71.

Insider Transactions at Nexstar Media Group

In other news, insider Gary Weitman sold 7,261 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.80, for a total value of $1,196,612.80. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 5,216 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $859,596.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Nexstar Media Group news, insider Gary Weitman sold 7,261 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.80, for a total value of $1,196,612.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 5,216 shares in the company, valued at approximately $859,596.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Sean Compton sold 3,930 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $160.61, for a total value of $631,197.30. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 10,684 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,715,957.24. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 41,112 shares of company stock valued at $6,887,029 over the last 90 days. 6.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.