Nexstar Shares Top $200 On Word Of Dividend Hike

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When it comes to broadcast media stocks, there’s perhaps no better performer on Wall Street today than Nexstar Media Group.


The largest licensee of U.S. broadcast TV stations, which also owns the NewsNation network — now the home of a noted Fox Business Washington, D.C. reporter — and WGN-AM in Chicago, saw its shares soar above the $200 mark in Friday morning trading on the Nasdaq GlobalSelect market.

Nexstar stock could go a little higher in the coming days, given a decision by the company’s Board of Directors to double its quarterly dividend.

It’s a remarkable move by Nexstar, and comes in sharp contrast to COVID-19 fueled dividend suspensions at radio broadcasting companies such as Townsquare Media and Audacy Corp., the latter of which faces a NYSE delisting if it does not engage in a reverse stock split.

With the decision by Nexstar’s board, Nexstar’s quarterly dividend is rising from $0.675 per share to $1.35 per share. The dividend is payable on Friday, February 24 to shareholders of record on Friday, February 10.

In some cases, big dividend payments are factored into the perceived value of a stock, thus sending its price downward. Not so with Nexstar, which is on track to surpass its record high values seen in mid-August.

Meanwhile, NXST is up nearly 30% from its November 7, 2022, closing price of $155.

Commenting on the dividend increase, Nexstar Chairman/CEO Perry Sook said, “The 50%
increase in our 2023 quarterly cash dividend substantially exceeds our historical compound annual dividend growth rate of 25%. This outsized increase highlights our confidence in Nexstar’s ability to continue to generate significant free cash flow and our commitment to return capital to shareholders. Our strong free cash flow enables us to not only increase the percentage of capital returned to shareholders in the form of dividends but also continue to opportunistically repurchase shares, as well as reduce debt and pursue strategic opportunities to create shareholder value.”

While Nexstar intends to pay regular quarterly cash dividends for the foreseeable future, all
subsequent dividends will be reviewed quarterly and declared by the Board of Directors at its discretion, the company said.

NXST carries a 1-year target price of $216.44.

News of the dividend increase came as Nexstar’s NewsNation named Blake Burman its Chief Washington Correspondent. “Grateful for the opportunity. See you next week!” he tweeted.

Burman was the Fox Business Network White House correspondent; he joined Fox Business in 2015.