E.W. Scripps (NASDAQ:SSP) Major Shareholder Anthony Granado Acquires 3,919 Shares

Key Points

• Anthony Granado bought 3,919 shares on March 4 at an average of $4.17, increasing his stake by 18.97% to 24,579 shares (about $102,494), as disclosed in an SEC filing.
• Management and strategic moves — CEO Adam Symson and other directors have been buying shares and Scripps agreed to acquire WTVQ for $15.8M, signaling insider confidence that may tighten free float.
• Mixed fundamentals and analyst view — Scripps missed quarterly EPS (reported ($0.06) vs. $0.46 expected) and shows negative margins/ROE, while analysts remain mixed with a consensus "Reduce" and a $6.95 target.

E.W. Scripps Company (The) (NASDAQ:SSP - Get Free Report) major shareholder Anthony Granado purchased 3,919 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $4.17 per share, for a total transaction of $16,342.23. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider directly owned 24,579 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $102,494.43. This represents a 18.97% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Major shareholders that own 10% or more of a company's shares are required to disclose their sales and purchases with the SEC.

E.W. Scripps Trading Up 3.6%

Shares of E.W. Scripps stock traded up $0.16 on Friday, hitting $4.57. The stock had a trading volume of 1,401,285 shares, compared to its average volume of 549,543. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $3.66 and a 200 day moving average of $3.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $405.83 million, a P/E ratio of -2.44 and a beta of 0.54. E.W. Scripps Company has a twelve month low of $1.36 and a twelve month high of $4.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.13, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a current ratio of 1.65.

E.W. Scripps (NASDAQ:SSP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported ($0.06) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.46 by ($0.52). The business had revenue of $560.26 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $550.82 million. E.W. Scripps had a negative net margin of 4.69% and a negative return on equity of 0.27%. Sell-side analysts expect that E.W. Scripps Company will post 1.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of E.W. Scripps

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SSP. D Orazio & Associates Inc. bought a new position in E.W. Scripps during the third quarter worth $27,000. Franklin Resources Inc. bought a new position in shares of E.W. Scripps during the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its position in shares of E.W. Scripps by 67.1% during the 3rd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 14,923 shares of the company's stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 5,992 shares in the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC acquired a new stake in shares of E.W. Scripps in the 3rd quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC bought a new stake in E.W. Scripps in the 3rd quarter valued at about $42,000. Institutional investors own 67.81% of the company's stock.

Key Stories Impacting E.W. Scripps

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

• Positive Sentiment: Leadership and directors buying shares — CEO Adam Symson bought 26,910 shares (~$3.69 avg) and multiple directors (Charles Barmonde, Monica Holcomb) added positions, signaling management confidence and reducing available float. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Major shareholder materially increased stake — Corina S. Granado bought large blocks (260,000 shares at ~$3.91 on Mar 3 and ~70k shares at ~$4.17 on Mar 4), pushing her above the 10% threshold; that is a high-visibility vote of confidence and may tighten free float. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Small strategic acquisition — Scripps agreed to buy WTVQ (Lexington, KY) for $15.8M, a targeted TV-market add that should modestly expand local ad reach and revenue potential. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest data looks effectively zero but appears noisy/rounded — the report shows no meaningful short-interest and is unlikely to be a primary driver of price action. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Recent fundamentals remain a concern — the Feb. 25 quarter missed EPS expectations (reported ($0.06) vs. $0.46 expected) and showed negative margins/ROE; sustained upside depends on margin recovery and execution. Read More.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on SSP shares. Zacks Research cut E.W. Scripps from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d+)" rating on shares of E.W. Scripps in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised 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 report on Thursday, January 22nd. Benchmark upped their price objective on shares of E.W. Scripps from $8.00 to $10.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of E.W. Scripps in a research report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, E.W. Scripps has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $6.95.

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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