E.W. Scripps' (SSP) "Buy" Rating Reaffirmed at Benchmark

E.W. Scripps (NASDAQ:SSP - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy" rating restated by equities research analysts at Benchmark in a research report issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $14.00 price target on the stock. Benchmark's target price would indicate a potential upside of 270.86% from the company's current price.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on SSP. StockNews.com raised E.W. Scripps from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on E.W. Scripps from $6.00 to $4.50 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday.

E.W. Scripps Trading Up 4.7 %

SSP stock traded up $0.17 during trading on Monday, reaching $3.78. The company had a trading volume of 1,704,306 shares, compared to its average volume of 952,696. The business has a 50 day moving average of $3.81 and a 200 day moving average of $5.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.46, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 1.41. The company has a market cap of $320.20 million, a P/E ratio of -0.32 and a beta of 1.90. E.W. Scripps has a 52 week low of $2.93 and a 52 week high of $11.02.

E.W. Scripps (NASDAQ:SSP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 23rd. The company reported ($0.02) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.46 by ($0.48). The firm had revenue of $615.77 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $593.00 million. E.W. Scripps had a positive return on equity of 2.83% and a negative net margin of 39.87%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that E.W. Scripps will post 0.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On E.W. Scripps

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SSP. Trexquant Investment LP raised its stake in shares of E.W. Scripps by 89.6% in the third quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 86,127 shares of the company's stock worth $472,000 after purchasing an additional 40,710 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new stake in shares of E.W. Scripps during the 3rd quarter valued at about $172,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of E.W. Scripps during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,032,000. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of E.W. Scripps by 12.3% during the fourth quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 32,034 shares of the company's stock valued at $256,000 after purchasing an additional 3,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PAX Financial Group LLC lifted its position in E.W. Scripps by 4.4% during the third quarter. PAX Financial Group LLC now owns 54,225 shares of the company's stock valued at $297,000 after purchasing an additional 2,282 shares during the period. 67.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About E.W. Scripps

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.