Should We Follow Steven Cohen Into Nexstar Broadcasting Group, Inc. (NXST)?

DIRECTV seems to be much cheaper

DIRECTV (NASDAQ:DTV) is the top digital TV entertainment provider, operating mainly in the U.S. and Latin American region, with around 20 million subscribers in the U.S. and more than 14 million subscribers in Latin America. In the past five years, DIRECTV has proved that it was really a cash cow. Since 2008, its operating cash flow has increased from $3.9 billion to $5.63 billion, while the free cash flow rose from $1.68 billion to nearly $2.3 billion during the same period. Recently, DIRECTV has also reported strong growth in its first quarter 2013 earning results. Its revenue rose 8% to $7.6 billion with the DIRECTV Latin America’s subscriber number increasing by 583,000. Its adjusted diluted EPS grew 34% to $1.43. In the first quarter of 2013, DIRECTV spent around $1.38 billion to repurchase its shares on the market. DIRECTV is trading nearly $62 per share, with a total market cap of $35.5 billion. The market seems to value the company quite cheaply at only 6.75 times EV/EBITDA.

CTC Media has the strongest balance sheet

CTC Media, Inc. (NASDAQ:CTCM) is the Russian television operator, operating three TV channels: CTC, Peretz and Domashny. Its CTC’s signal covers more than 100 million people with an average overall audience share of around 6.9% last year. Interestingly, CTC is considered the fifth most-watched TV channel in Russia. The company had quite the disappointing first quarter earnings results. Its operating revenue increased by only 2% to $195.3 million, while the net profit experienced a year-over-year decline of 12% to $28.6 million. Its diluted EPS dropped by 14% to $0.18. CTC Media is trading at around $11.70 per share, with a total market cap of $1.85 billion. The market values CTC Media similarly to DIRECTV, at 6.6 times EV/EBITDA.

Among the three companies, CTC Media seems to have the strongest balance sheet, with little debt. As of December 2012, it had around $193 million in cash, $758 million in equity and only $13 million in debt. Its net debt/EBITDA is small, at only 1. As DIRECTV had net debt of as much as $13.6 billion, its net debt/EBITDA stayed at only 1.88. Nexstar seems to be the most leveraged of the trio, with net debt/EBITDA of nearly 5.5.

My Foolish take

Quantitatively, I like CTC Media the most with its low leverage and reasonable valuation. Moreover, it offers investors the juiciest dividend yield at 5.3%. While DIRECTV does not pay any dividends, the dividend yield of Nexstar is only 1.9%. I would not touch Nexstar at its current trading price because of its double digit EV multiple and the highest leverage level.

The article Should We Follow Steven Cohen Into Nexstar? originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Anh HOANG.

Copyright © 1995 – 2013 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.