E.W. Scripps (NASDAQ:SSP) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.32 EPS

E.W. Scripps (NASDAQ:SSP) issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The company reported ($0.20) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.52) by $0.32, Zacks reports. E.W. Scripps had a negative return on equity of 0.56% and a negative net margin of 4.63%.The firm had revenue of $516.87 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $516.86 million.

E.W. Scripps Price Performance

NASDAQ SSP traded down $0.15 during trading on Friday, reaching $4.53. 966,440 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 569,884. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.13, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a current ratio of 1.65. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $4.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $3.81. The company has a market cap of $403.31 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.45 and a beta of 0.72. E.W. Scripps has a 1-year low of $2.02 and a 1-year high of $5.39.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other E.W. Scripps news, major shareholder Corina S. Granado bought 260,000 shares of E.W. Scripps stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $3.91 per share, with a total value of $1,016,600.00. Following the acquisition, the insider directly owned 590,275 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,307,975.25. The trade was a 78.72% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Margaret Scripps Klenzing bought 159,515 shares of E.W. Scripps stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $4.64 per share, for a total transaction of $740,149.60. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider directly owned 741,978 shares in the company, valued at $3,442,777.92. This represents a 27.39% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders acquired 1,332,085 shares of company stock valued at $5,733,766 over the last quarter. 5.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of E.W. Scripps by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 246,777 shares of the company’s stock worth $985,000 after acquiring an additional 3,472 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in shares of E.W. Scripps by 11.1% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 427,036 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,704,000 after acquiring an additional 42,542 shares in the last quarter. Stokes Family Office LLC acquired a new position in shares of E.W. Scripps in the 4th quarter worth approximately $75,000. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of E.W. Scripps by 13.7% in the 4th quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 808,936 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,228,000 after acquiring an additional 97,542 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAM Holding AG acquired a new position in shares of E.W. Scripps in the 4th quarter worth approximately $319,000. 67.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on SSP shares. Benchmark lifted their price objective on E.W. Scripps from $8.00 to $10.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on E.W. Scripps from $3.00 to $3.90 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Zacks Research raised E.W. Scripps from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of E.W. Scripps in a report on Friday, March 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, E.W. Scripps presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $6.95.

Key Stories Impacting E.W. Scripps

Here are the key news stories impacting E.W. Scripps this week:

• Positive Sentiment: E.W. Scripps reported Q1 EPS of -$0.20, which was better than the consensus estimate of -$0.52, and revenue of $516.87 million was essentially in line with expectations. That earnings beat may be supporting the stock. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Management’s earnings-call discussion focused on balancing growth initiatives with network-related headwinds, including transformation efforts, sports strategy, and a softer advertising market. That suggests the company is still working through a mixed operating backdrop. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: News coverage also highlighted that the quarter was broadly “in line” with expectations, which may limit the upside from the results despite the EPS beat. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: The company continues to face ad market headwinds and other network-related pressures, which could weigh on near-term revenue growth and investor sentiment. Article Title

E.W. Scripps Company Profile

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.