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

Key Points

• E.W. Scripps currently has a consensus analyst rating of "Hold" from five covering firms, with an average 1-year target price of $5.95.
• Recent analyst actions have been mixed: Weiss Ratings reiterated a sell rating, Zacks upgraded the stock to hold, and Benchmark cut its target price to $8 while keeping a buy rating.
• Insider and institutional activity has been notable, with major shareholder Molly E. Mccabe selling shares and institutional ownership standing at 67.81%; the stock recently traded at $3.15, below its 52-week high.

Shares of E.W. Scripps Company (The) (NASDAQ:SSP - Get Free Report) have received a consensus rating of "Hold" from the five research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have assigned a hold recommendation and one has given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $5.95.

SSP has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d)" rating on shares of E.W. Scripps in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Zacks Research raised shares of E.W. Scripps from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Benchmark cut their target price on shares of E.W. Scripps from $10.00 to $8.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 11th.

Insider Buying and Selling at E.W. Scripps

In other news, major shareholder Molly E. Mccabe sold 142,970 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.48, for a total transaction of $497,535.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 123,523 shares of the company's stock, valued at $429,860.04. This represents a 53.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 326,675 shares of company stock valued at $1,117,887 in the last ninety days. 5.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of E.W. Scripps

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Penn Capital Management Company LLC raised its position in E.W. Scripps by 151.7% during the third quarter. Penn Capital Management Company LLC now owns 3,599,606 shares of the company's stock worth $8,864,000 after acquiring an additional 2,169,640 shares in the last quarter. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new position in shares of E.W. Scripps in the 1st quarter valued at about $5,273,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in shares of E.W. Scripps by 886.8% during the 3rd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,280,898 shares of the company's stock worth $3,151,000 after purchasing an additional 1,151,092 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of E.W. Scripps by 22.6% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,722,317 shares of the company's stock worth $18,842,000 after purchasing an additional 871,159 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. raised its holdings in shares of E.W. Scripps by 174.7% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 582,224 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,166,000 after purchasing an additional 370,260 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.81% of the company's stock.

E.W. Scripps Price Performance

Shares of SSP stock opened at $3.15 on Thursday. E.W. Scripps has a 52 week low of $2.02 and a 52 week high of $5.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $288.35 million, a PE ratio of -1.70 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.08, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a current ratio of 1.58. The stock's fifty day moving average is $3.40 and its 200-day moving average is $3.71.

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

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.

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