Insider Buying: E.W. Scripps (NASDAQ:SSP) Major Shareholder Buys 79,758 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• Major shareholder Corina Granado purchased 79,758 shares of E.W. Scripps at $4.64 each (≈$370,077) on March 6, increasing her stake by 11.07% to 800,275 shares, as disclosed in an SEC filing.
• E.W. Scripps missed on recent quarterly EPS (reported ($0.06) vs. $0.46 expected) despite revenue beating estimates, trades around $4.40 with a market cap of about $390.7M, and shows negative profitability metrics and high debt-to-equity.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed — Benchmark upgraded to a "buy" with a $10 target while others lowered ratings, leaving an average MarketBeat rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $6.95; institutional investors own roughly 67.8% of the shares.

E.W. Scripps Company (The) (NASDAQ:SSP - Get Free Report) major shareholder Corina Granado acquired 79,758 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $4.64 per share, with a total value of $370,077.12. Following the purchase, the insider owned 800,275 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,713,276. The trade was a 11.07% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Major shareholders that own more than 10% of a company's shares are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

E.W. Scripps Stock Performance

Shares of SSP stock traded down $0.20 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $4.40. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,133,842 shares, compared to its average volume of 575,071. The company has a current ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.13. The company has a market cap of $390.72 million, a PE ratio of -2.35 and a beta of 0.53. The business has a fifty day moving average of $3.69 and a 200-day moving average of $3.39. E.W. Scripps Company has a 52 week low of $1.36 and a 52 week high of $4.98.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on SSP. Benchmark upped their price objective on E.W. Scripps from $8.00 to $10.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Zacks Research downgraded E.W. Scripps from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of E.W. Scripps in a research report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on E.W. Scripps from $3.00 to $3.90 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d+)" rating on shares of E.W. Scripps in a report on Monday, December 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $6.95.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On E.W. Scripps

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

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