E.W. Scripps Company (The) (NASDAQ:SSP) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

E.W. Scripps Company (The) (NASDAQ:SSP) has been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the five analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have given a hold recommendation and one has given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $5.95.

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on SSP shares. Zacks Research raised E.W. Scripps from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Benchmark lowered their price target on shares of E.W. Scripps from $10.00 to $8.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of E.W. Scripps from $3.00 to $3.90 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of E.W. Scripps in a research note on Friday, March 6th.

Insider Activity at E.W. Scripps

In other news, major shareholder Margaret Scripps Klenzing purchased 159,515 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $4.64 per share, with a total value of $740,149.60. Following the purchase, the insider directly owned 741,978 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,442,777.92. The trade was a 27.39% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Eaton M. Scripps purchased 41,017 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $4.64 per share, for a total transaction of $190,318.88. Following the purchase, the insider directly owned 1,388,185 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,441,178.40. This represents a 3.04% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders acquired 1,333,347 shares of company stock valued at $5,738,221. Company insiders own 5.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On E.W. Scripps

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in shares of E.W. Scripps by 13.9% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 71,890 shares of the company’s stock worth $267,000 after buying an additional 8,746 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in shares of E.W. Scripps by 9.9% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 469,174 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,745,000 after buying an additional 42,138 shares during the last quarter. Rangeley Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of E.W. Scripps during the 1st quarter worth $318,000. Gabelli Funds LLC raised its stake in shares of E.W. Scripps by 23.2% during the 1st quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 1,375,524 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,117,000 after buying an additional 258,908 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GABELLI & Co INVESTMENT ADVISERS INC. raised its stake in shares of E.W. Scripps by 233.3% during the 1st quarter. GABELLI & Co INVESTMENT ADVISERS INC. now owns 241,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $898,000 after buying an additional 169,050 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.81% of the company’s stock.

E.W. Scripps Stock Down 7.7%

SSP stock opened at $3.23 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $295.67 million, a PE ratio of -1.75 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a fifty day moving average of $4.10 and a 200-day moving average of $3.88. E.W. Scripps has a one year low of $2.02 and a one year high of $5.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.08, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a current ratio of 1.58.

E.W. Scripps (NASDAQ:SSP) last issued its earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The company reported ($0.20) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.52) by $0.32. The business had revenue of $516.87 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $516.86 million. E.W. Scripps had a negative return on equity of 0.56% and a negative net margin of 4.63%. As a group, analysts expect that E.W. Scripps will post 0.22 EPS for the current year.

About E.W. Scripps

The E.W. Scripps Company is a diversified U.S. media organization headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. Established in 1878 by Edward Willis Scripps, the company began as a newspaper publisher before expanding into broadcast television, cable networks and digital journalism. Today, Scripps combines a legacy of local news reporting with a growing portfolio of national cable channels and digital platforms.

Scripps operates more than 60 television stations across over 40 markets, delivering local news, weather, sports and entertainment programming to communities in both large and mid-sized U.S.