Station Stocks Pounded After Analyst Downgrade

Television station group stocks were pounded on Monday after an influential analyst downgraded the sector on what she saw as an increasingly negative regulatory environment.

The Federal Communications Commission has recently proposed restrictions on joint sales agreements and other sharing arrangements that could endanger pending station acquisitions.

In a research note Monday, Wells Fargo media analyst Marci Ryvicker downgraded station stocks to “Market Perform,” adding that although she likes the business, she “can't help but feel incrementally negative on the regulatory environment—especially as it relates to pending and future [merger and acquisition activity].”

The news sent the entire sector downward, with companies that have been most active in the deal market, like Nexstar Broadcasting Group and Sinclair Broadcast Group feeling most of the pain.

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