Nexstar price target raised to $250 from $225 at Benchmark

Benchmark raised the firm’s price target on Nexstar (NXST) to $250 from $225 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares after the company “got its revolutionary deal across the line” with an all-cash, $22 per share bid for Tegna (TGNA). The combined entity will cover 80% of U.S. households, driving a base-case synergy scenario of over 35% of Tegna’s adjusted EBITDA, says the analyst, who thinks that “number will prove highly conservative” if history is a guide. The firm’s raised target takes into account some regulatory uncertainty and the potential for required divestitures, but does not take into account incremental synergies above and beyond the initial $300M, the analyst tells investors.