Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Takes Position in Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 9,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,426,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Channing Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Nexstar Media Group by 738.8% during the third quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC now owns 506,212 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,576,000 after acquiring an additional 445,859 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Nexstar Media Group during the fourth quarter worth $64,347,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Nexstar Media Group by 44.3% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 607,631 shares of the company’s stock worth $87,116,000 after acquiring an additional 186,486 shares during the period. Boston Financial Mangement LLC lifted its holdings in Nexstar Media Group by 156.5% during the third quarter. Boston Financial Mangement LLC now owns 238,670 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,218,000 after acquiring an additional 145,617 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Nexstar Media Group by 15,107.2% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 122,570 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,213,000 after acquiring an additional 121,764 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 95.30% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Perry A. Sook sold 31,758 shares of Nexstar Media Group stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was 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 directly owns 636,788 shares in the company, valued at $101,032,784.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Perry A. Sook sold 31,758 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.66, for a total transaction of $5,038,724.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 636,788 shares in the company, valued at $101,032,784.08. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Michael Strober sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.49, for a total value of $167,490.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1,076 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $180,219.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 46,508 shares of company stock worth $7,487,950. 5.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Nexstar Media Group Stock Performance

Shares of NXST opened at $165.25 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $5.52 billion, a PE ratio of 17.16, a PEG ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.50. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $165.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $158.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.90, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 1.53. Nexstar Media Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $132.30 and a 1 year high of $187.32.

Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST) last announced its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $1.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.32 billion. Nexstar Media Group had a net margin of 7.03% and a return on equity of 14.06%. Nexstar Media Group’s revenue for the quarter was down 12.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $8.04 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Nexstar Media Group, Inc. will post 26.73 EPS for the current year.

Nexstar Media Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 9th were given a $1.69 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 8th. This is a boost from Nexstar Media Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.35. This represents a $6.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.09%. Nexstar Media Group’s payout ratio is 70.20%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Rosenblatt Securities dropped their price target on 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 upgraded Nexstar Media Group from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Nexstar Media Group in a research note on Thursday, March 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $193.83.

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.