E.W. Scripps Company (The) $SSP Stake Trimmed by Cove Street Capital LLC

Key Points

• Cove Street Capital LLC has reduced its stake in E.W. Scripps Company by 44.2%, selling over half a million shares and owning about 0.81% of the company, valued at approximately $2.1 million.
• Several institutional investors, including Wittenberg Investment Management Inc. and Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc., have increased their holdings in E.W. Scripps, showing a mixed sentiment among institutional backers.
• E.W. Scripps reported a loss of $0.12 earnings per share for the most recent quarter, missing estimates, and has seen its stock price decrease, prompting lowered ratings from analysts.

Cove Street Capital LLC reduced its position in E.W. Scripps Company (The) (NASDAQ:SSP - Free Report) by 44.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 705,418 shares of the company's stock after selling 559,006 shares during the quarter. E.W. Scripps comprises approximately 3.3% of Cove Street Capital LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. Cove Street Capital LLC owned about 0.81% of E.W. Scripps worth $2,088,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SSP. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new stake in shares of E.W. Scripps in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its holdings in E.W. Scripps by 111.8% in the 1st quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 8,931 shares of the company's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 4,715 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new stake in E.W. Scripps in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its stake in E.W. Scripps by 137.3% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 13,700 shares of the company's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 7,927 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Group One Trading LLC boosted its holdings in shares of E.W. Scripps by 479.9% during the 4th quarter. Group One Trading LLC now owns 13,998 shares of the company's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 11,584 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.81% of the company's stock.

E.W. Scripps Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of E.W. Scripps stock traded up $0.04 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $2.99. The company's stock had a trading volume of 275,266 shares, compared to its average volume of 956,638. The stock has a market cap of $264.11 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.23 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.92, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.27. E.W. Scripps Company has a twelve month low of $1.36 and a twelve month high of $4.17. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $3.17 and a 200-day moving average of $2.65.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on E.W. Scripps from $4.00 to $3.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Wall Street Zen cut E.W. Scripps from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Sunday, August 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $5.50.

E.W. Scripps 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.