Ethos Financial Group LLC Invests $438,000 in Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST)

Ethos Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 2,796 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $438,000.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Nexstar Media Group by 350.9% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 239 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora acquired a new stake in Nexstar Media Group in the fourth quarter valued at $45,000. Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in Nexstar Media Group by 20.3% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 420 shares of the company’s stock valued at $66,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in Nexstar Media Group in the third quarter valued at $65,000. Finally, Arlington Trust Co LLC acquired a new stake in Nexstar Media Group in the fourth quarter valued at $81,000. 95.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities cut their price target on shares of Nexstar Media Group from $216.00 to $213.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. TheStreet raised shares of Nexstar Media Group from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Nexstar Media Group in a report on Thursday, March 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Nexstar Media Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $193.83.

Nexstar Media Group Stock Performance

NXST stock traded up $9.83 during trading on Thursday, hitting $177.94. 587,333 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 338,023. The company has a quick ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.90. Nexstar Media Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $132.30 and a 52 week high of $187.32. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $164.90 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $160.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 1.50.

Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The company reported $3.32 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.42 by ($1.10). The business had revenue of $1.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.32 billion. Nexstar Media Group had a net margin of 7.03% and a return on equity of 14.06%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $8.04 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Nexstar Media Group, Inc. will post 26.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Nexstar Media Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be given a dividend of $1.69 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $6.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.80%. Nexstar Media Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 70.20%.

Insider Transactions at Nexstar Media Group

In other news, Director Dennis J. Fitzsimons sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.82, for a total transaction of $341,640.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 12,027 shares in the company, valued at $2,054,452.14. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Perry A. Sook sold 31,758 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.66, for a total value of $5,038,724.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 636,788 shares in the company, valued at approximately $101,032,784.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Dennis J. Fitzsimons sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.82, for a total transaction of $341,640.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 12,027 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,054,452.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 46,508 shares of company stock worth $7,487,950. Insiders own 5.90% of the company’s stock.

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.