NXST vs VSNT Stock Comparison

Nexstar Media and Versant Media Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
NXST Nexstar Media Group, Inc.
$166.26 +2.6% 1M -12.8% 1Y
Market cap
$5.12B
P/E
27.1x
Revenue (TTM)
$5.88B
Div. yield
4.47%
Television Broadcasting Communication Services
4 wins
VSNT Versant Media Group, Inc.
$30.85 -5.9% 1M
Market cap
$4.29B
P/E
20.6x
Revenue (TTM)
—
Div. yield
3.70%
Television Broadcasting Communication Services
2 wins

Head to Head

6 decided of 12

Nexstar Media leads on 4 of the 12 questions below (Nexstar Media 4, Versant Media 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionNXSTVSNTLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $5.12B $4.29B NXST
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 27.1x 20.6x VSNT
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 5.0x 7.2x NXST
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +10.5% — –
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 3.2% — –
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 5.8% — –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 8.3x — –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 4.47% 3.70% NXST
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -12.8% — –
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +2.1%/yr — –
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 36.6% 41.4% NXST
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 50/100 65/100 VSNT

Percentile Scorecard

NXSTVSNT

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisNXSTVSNT
Valuation 65 #19 of 53 81 #11 of 53
Growth 28 #32 of 44 –
Profitability 73 #12 of 42 –
Financial Health 37 #39 of 61 83 #11 of 61
Shareholder Returns 48 #14 of 26 32 #18 of 26
Overall 50 65
  • NXST ranked among 61 companies in Advertising and Media
  • VSNT ranked among 61 companies in Advertising and Media

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodNXSTVSNTSPY
1 month +2.6%-5.9% -0.2%
3 months -14.2%-17.2% +3.9%
6 months -18.6%-21.2% +8.2%
Year to date -18.1%-31.4% +12.9%
1 year -12.8%— +12.3%
3 years +22.7%— +87.4%
3 years, per year +7.1%— +23.3%
5 years +10.9%— +67.9%
5 years, per year +2.1%— +10.9%
10 years +243.5%— +261.1%
10 years, per year +13.1%— +13.7%

Risk

MeasureNXSTVSNTSPY
Volatility, 1Y 36.6%41.4% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 37.8%46.7% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.440.43 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.35— 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -39.0%-42.2% -25.4%
From 52-week high -34.5%-35.0% -1.2%
52-week high $253.64$47.45 $779.14
52-week low $154.70$27.42 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleNXSTVSNT
P/E now vs peer median 27.1xmedian 18.4x 20.6xmedian 18.4x
P/S now vs peer median 0.9xmedian 0.6x 2.6xmedian 0.6x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 11.9xmedian 10.5x —median 10.5x
P/FCF now vs peer median 6.9xmedian 9.0x —median 9.0x
P/B now vs peer median 2.3xmedian 1.5x 0.5xmedian 1.5x
PEG now vs peer median -0.85median 0.44 —median 0.44

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsNXSTVSNT
Revenue $5.88B –
Gross profit $3.21B –
Operating income $1.04B –
Net income $168.00M –
Free cash flow $743.00M –
EPS (diluted) $6.08 –
Cash & equivalents $218.00M $1.48B
Total debt $11.74B $2.95B
Shares (diluted) 30.91M 141.30M
Enterprise value $3.93B $2.93B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricNXSTVSNT
P/E 27.1x 20.6x
P/FCF 6.9x –
P/Operating cash flow 5.7x –
P/S 0.9x 2.6x
P/B 2.3x 0.5x
P/Tangible book -1.8x 0.6x
EV/EBITDA 11.9x –
EV/EBIT 15.9x –
EV/Revenue 2.8x –
EV/FCF 22.4x –
EV/Operating cash flow 18.6x –
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) -0.85 –

Growth

14 metrics
MetricNXSTVSNT
Revenue growth (1Y) 10.5% –
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 3.8% –
Gross profit growth (1Y) 4.0% –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 0.5% –
Operating income growth (1Y) -11.9% –
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 0.4% –
Net income growth (1Y) -71.9% –
Net income CAGR (3Y) -35.6% –
EPS growth (1Y) -70.7% –
EPS CAGR (3Y) -31.9% –
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -35.3% –
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -11.1% –
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -40.7% –
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) -12.3% –

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricNXSTVSNT
Gross margin 54.6% –
EBITDA margin 23.7% –
Operating margin 17.8% –
Pretax margin 3.6% –
Net margin 3.2% –
FCF margin 12.6% –
Operating cash flow margin 15.2% –
Return on equity 8.3% –
Return on assets 1.0% –
Return on invested capital 5.8% –
Return on capital employed 6.3% –
Asset turnover 0.3x –
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 5.3x –
Stock comp / revenue 1.7% –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricNXSTVSNT
Debt / assets 66.3% 23.2%
Debt / equity 5.2x 0.4x
Net debt / EBITDA 8.3x –
Debt / FCF 15.8x –
Liabilities / assets 87.2% 35.4%
Equity / assets 12.8% 64.6%
Interest coverage 2.1x –
Current ratio 1.6x 2.4x
Quick ratio 1.4x 2.3x
Cash ratio 0.2x 1.2x
Altman Z-score 1.07 –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricNXSTVSNT
Dividend yield 4.5% 3.7%
Net buyback yield – –
Shareholder yield 4.5% 3.7%
Payout ratio (earnings) 134.5% –
Payout ratio (FCF) 30.4% –
Dividend growth (1Y) 2.7% –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 10.6% –

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusNXSTVSNT
Forward P/E 5.0xFY2026 7.2xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $32.94FY2026 $4.28FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +998.0%FY2026 -24.8%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after -45.6% +64.7%
Revenue, next fiscal year $8.32BFY2026 $6.65BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +68.2%FY2026 -0.6%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after -4.3% -3.9%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersNXSTVSNT
Held by institutions 100.0% 86.7%
Institutions holding 486 792
Change in shares held, QoQ +4.0% +4.0%
Institutions buying 220 302
Institutions selling 181 311
Buyers to sellers 1.22 0.97

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

NXSTVSNT
NXST 1.00 0.20
VSNT 0.20 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, NXST and VSNT?

Nexstar Media (NXST) is the largest by market capitalisation: Nexstar Media (NXST) $5.12B, Versant Media (VSNT) $4.29B.

Which stock is cheaper, NXST and VSNT?

Versant Media (VSNT) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Nexstar Media (NXST) 27.1x, Versant Media (VSNT) 20.6x). On next year's consensus earnings, Nexstar Media (NXST) is cheapest (Nexstar Media (NXST) 5.0x, Versant Media (VSNT) 7.2x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Nexstar Media (NXST) has the highest dividend yield: Nexstar Media (NXST) 4.47%, Versant Media (VSNT) 3.70%.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Nexstar Media (NXST) has been the steadiest (Nexstar Media (NXST) 36.6%, Versant Media (VSNT) 41.4%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Do NXST and VSNT move together?

Their daily returns over the past year have a correlation of 0.20, a weak relationship. Holding both diversifies more than two closely linked stocks would.

Which is the better stock, NXST and VSNT?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Nexstar Media (NXST) leads on 4. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.