Empowered Funds LLC Sells 3,356 Shares of Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST)

Empowered Funds LLC reduced its stake in Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST) by 13.0% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 22,507 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,356 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Nexstar Media Group were worth $3,722,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Nexstar Media Group by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,370,415 shares of the company’s stock worth $580,689,000 after purchasing an additional 127,783 shares in the last quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Nexstar Media Group in the second quarter worth about $570,000. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Nexstar Media Group by 24.3% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 81,875 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,106,000 after acquiring an additional 15,982 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP grew its stake in Nexstar Media Group by 211.2% during the third quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 6,195 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,024,000 after acquiring an additional 4,204 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Nexstar Media Group by 72.0% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 199,811 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,769,000 after acquiring an additional 83,637 shares during the period. 95.30% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Nexstar Media Group Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NXST opened at $162.18 on Tuesday. Nexstar Media Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $141.38 and a 1 year high of $191.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 1.68. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $168.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $167.16. The firm has a market cap of $5.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.38, a P/E/G ratio of 0.19 and a beta of 1.48.

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

Nexstar Media Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a $1.69 dividend. This represents a $6.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.17%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. Nexstar Media Group’s dividend payout ratio is 39.10%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Loop Capital downgraded shares of Nexstar Media Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the company from $200.00 to $190.00 in a report on Friday, November 8th. StockNews.com raised Nexstar Media Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Guggenheim decreased their target price on Nexstar Media Group from $200.00 to $198.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on Nexstar Media Group from $207.00 to $205.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Nexstar Media Group from $221.00 to $209.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $198.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Andrew Alford sold 3,175 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.82, for a total value of $532,828.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 9,173 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,539,412.86. This trade represents a 25.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Perry A. Sook sold 12,239 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.28, for a total transaction of $2,328,836.92. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 674,694 shares in the company, valued at approximately $128,380,774.32. The trade was a 1.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 48,437 shares of company stock valued at $8,429,561 in the last quarter. Insiders own 6.30% of the company’s stock.

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.