Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST) Plans Dividend Increase – $1.86 Per Share

Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, January 29th,RTT News reports. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 12th will be paid a dividend of 1.86 per share on Wednesday, February 26th. This represents a $7.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.74%. This is a boost from Nexstar Media Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.69.

Nexstar Media Group has raised its dividend by an average of 34.2% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 11 consecutive years. Nexstar Media Group has a dividend payout ratio of 25.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Nexstar Media Group to earn $17.69 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 38.2%.

Nexstar Media Group Price Performance

Shares of NXST opened at $156.83 on Thursday. 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 business’s fifty day moving average is $161.37 and its 200 day moving average is $166.63. Nexstar Media Group has a 12-month low of $147.25 and a 12-month high of $191.86. The stock has a market cap of $4.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.07, a P/E/G ratio of 0.26 and a beta of 1.45.

Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $5.27 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.51 by ($0.24). Nexstar Media Group had a net margin of 11.39% and a return on equity of 26.03%. The company had revenue of $1.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.37 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.70 earnings per share. Nexstar Media Group’s revenue was up 20.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Nexstar Media Group will post 24.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Nexstar Media Group news, CEO Perry A. Sook sold 52,808 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $157.41, for a total value of $8,312,507.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 674,694 shares in the company, valued at $106,203,582.54. This trade represents a 7.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Lee Ann Gliha sold 330 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.23, for a total value of $52,215.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 8,610 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,362,360.30. This represents a 3.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 146,448 shares of company stock worth $23,828,076 in the last quarter. 6.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on NXST shares. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Nexstar Media Group in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $215.00 target price on shares of Nexstar Media Group in a research report on Friday, November 8th. StockNews.com raised Nexstar Media Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Nexstar Media Group in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Loop Capital lowered Nexstar Media Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $200.00 to $190.00 in a report on Friday, November 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Nexstar Media Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $204.29.

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.