E.W. Scripps Company (The) (NASDAQ:SSP) Receives Average Recommendation of "Hold" from Brokerages

Key Points

• E.W. Scripps has a consensus “Hold” rating among five analysts: one Sell, three Holds and one Buy. The average 12-month price target is $5.95, compared with the stock’s reported $2.81 price.
• SSP reported quarterly revenue of $516.87 million and an adjusted loss of $0.20 per share, beating analysts’ expected loss of $0.52 per share. Despite the earnings beat, the company posted negative net margin and return on equity.
• The stock has declined from a 12-month high of $5.39 to a low of $2.02, while insiders sold 326,675 shares worth about $1.12 million over the past three months. Institutional investors own approximately 67.81% of the company.

E.W. Scripps Company (The) (NASDAQ:SSP - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus rating of "Hold" from the five research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One 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 1-year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $5.95.

A number of analysts recently issued reports on SSP shares. Zacks Research raised E.W. Scripps from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d)" rating on shares of E.W. Scripps in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of E.W. Scripps to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, Benchmark reduced their price target on shares of E.W. Scripps from $10.00 to $8.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 11th.

E.W. Scripps Stock Performance

Shares of SSP stock opened at $2.81 on Monday. The firm's 50 day moving average is $3.08 and its 200 day moving average is $3.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $257.23 million, a P/E ratio of -1.52 and a beta of 0.65. E.W. Scripps has a 12 month low of $2.02 and a 12 month high of $5.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.08.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other E.W. Scripps 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 value of $497,535.60. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 123,523 shares in the company, valued at $429,860.04. This represents a 53.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders sold 326,675 shares of company stock worth $1,117,887 in the last three months. 5.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On E.W. Scripps

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of SSP. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new position in shares of E.W. Scripps in the 1st quarter worth $5,273,000. Gabelli Funds LLC increased its stake in E.W. Scripps by 23.2% in the first quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 1,375,524 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,117,000 after acquiring an additional 258,908 shares during the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL raised its position in E.W. Scripps by 9.0% during the first quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 2,661,878 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,902,000 after purchasing an additional 219,839 shares in the last quarter. GABELLI & Co INVESTMENT ADVISERS INC. increased its position 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 valued at $898,000 after purchasing an additional 169,050 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings 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 valued at $1,745,000 after buying an additional 42,138 shares in the last quarter. 67.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.