Commerce Bank Trims Stock Position in Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST)

Commerce Bank reduced its stake in shares of Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST) by 1.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 86,805 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,064 shares during the quarter. Commerce Bank owned approximately 0.27% of Nexstar Media Group worth $14,353,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position 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 valued at $580,689,000 after purchasing an additional 127,783 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Nexstar Media Group by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,326,476 shares of the company’s stock valued at $220,189,000 after purchasing an additional 62,331 shares during the period. Copeland Capital Management LLC increased its position in Nexstar Media Group by 18.1% during the 3rd quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 547,728 shares of the company’s stock valued at $90,567,000 after purchasing an additional 83,829 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors purchased a new position in Nexstar Media Group during the 1st quarter valued at $92,323,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Nexstar Media Group by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 418,815 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,528,000 after purchasing an additional 2,145 shares during the period. 95.30% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Nexstar Media Group Price Performance

NXST opened at $166.83 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a current ratio of 1.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.65, a P/E/G ratio of 0.19 and a beta of 1.48. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $168.76 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $167.14. Nexstar Media Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $141.38 and a 52-week high of $191.86.

Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $5.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.51 by ($0.24). The company had revenue of $1.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 was up 20.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.70 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Nexstar Media Group, Inc. will post 24.53 EPS for the current year.

Nexstar Media Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a $1.69 dividend. This represents a $6.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.05%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. Nexstar Media Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.10%.

Insider Transactions at Nexstar Media Group

In other Nexstar Media Group news, CEO Perry A. Sook sold 12,239 shares of Nexstar Media Group stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 674,694 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $128,380,774.32. The trade was a 1.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Charles Thomas Mcmillen sold 250 shares of Nexstar Media Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.44, for a total transaction of $41,110.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,725 shares in the company, valued at $1,270,299. This represents a 3.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 44,903 shares of company stock worth $7,833,240 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 6.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on NXST. Guggenheim reduced their target price on shares of Nexstar Media Group from $200.00 to $198.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced 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. StockNews.com raised shares of Nexstar Media Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Nexstar Media Group in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $215.00 target price on shares of Nexstar Media Group in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Nexstar Media Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $198.50.

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.