Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST) Shareholders to Get $1.86 Quarterly Dividend

Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXST) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, October 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 13th will be paid a dividend of $1.86 per share on Friday, November 27th. This represents a $7.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 13th.

Nexstar Media Group has increased its dividend by an average of 0.3% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 12 years. Nexstar Media Group has a payout ratio of 28.3% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Nexstar Media Group to earn $18.19 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $7.44 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 40.9%.

Nexstar Media Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ NXST opened at $206.59 on Wednesday. Nexstar Media Group has a 52-week low of $153.17 and a 52-week high of $254.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.43, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.26. The company has a market capitalization of $6.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.80 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a fifty day moving average of $168.65 and a 200-day moving average of $191.63.

Nexstar Media Group (NASDAQ:NXST) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 5th. The company reported $7.92 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.08 by ($0.16). The business had revenue of $2.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.07 billion. Nexstar Media Group had a net margin of 5.48% and a return on equity of 32.25%. The firm’s revenue was up 78.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.14 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Nexstar Media Group will post 32.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Nexstar Media Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Zacks Research lowered shares of Nexstar Media Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on Nexstar Media Group from $255.00 to $240.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Nexstar Media Group from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on Nexstar Media Group from $215.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $257.50.

Nexstar Media Group Company Profile

Nexstar Media Group is a U.S. media company focused on local television broadcasting and national programming. It owns and operates local television stations across the country, many affiliated with major broadcast networks, and produces local news, sports, and other programming for viewers in their communities. The company also operates NewsNation, a national news and entertainment network, and holds a majority interest in The CW. Its digital businesses distribute news and other content online, while advertising and fees for carrying its stations and networks are among its business activities.