E.W. Scripps (NASDAQ:SSP) Upgraded to Hold at Wall Street Zen

E.W. Scripps (NASDAQ:SSP) was upgraded by Wall Street Zen from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Saturday.

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on E.W. Scripps from $4.00 to $3.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, E.W. Scripps presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $5.50.

E.W. Scripps Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ SSP opened at $3.31 on Friday. E.W. Scripps has a 1-year low of $1.36 and a 1-year high of $4.17. The company has a market cap of $292.37 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.90 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.92, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $3.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $2.57.

E.W. Scripps (NASDAQ:SSP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported ($0.12) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.04) by ($0.08). E.W. Scripps had a net margin of 4.25% and a return on equity of 17.68%. The business had revenue of $540.08 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $544.17 million. Analysts forecast that E.W. Scripps will post 1.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of E.W. Scripps

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wittenberg Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of E.W. Scripps by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. Wittenberg Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,087,724 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,138,000 after purchasing an additional 51,710 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of E.W. Scripps by 155.0% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,926,461 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,702,000 after purchasing an additional 1,171,102 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in shares of E.W. Scripps by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,724,192 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,810,000 after purchasing an additional 123,663 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of E.W. Scripps by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,516,298 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,459,000 after purchasing an additional 10,957 shares during the period. Finally, Penn Capital Management Company LLC boosted its position in shares of E.W. Scripps by 10.0% in the 1st quarter. Penn Capital Management Company LLC now owns 1,423,427 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,218,000 after purchasing an additional 129,884 shares during the period. 67.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

E.W. Scripps Company Profile

The E.W. Scripps Company, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a media enterprise through a portfolio of local television stations, national news, and entertainment networks in the United States. It operates through Local Media, Scripps Networks, and Other segments. The Local Media segment operates broadcast television stations, which produce news, information, sports, and entertainment content, as well as its related digital operations; runs network, syndicated, and original programming, and local sporting events; and provides core and political advertising services.