E.W. Scripps (NASDAQ:SSP) Share Price Breaks Above 50 Day Moving Average - Time to Sell?

Key Points

• E.W. Scripps shares moved above their 50-day moving average, trading at $2.88 after reaching $2.92; the 50-day average was $2.86.
• Analysts’ consensus rating is Hold, with a $5.90 average price target; ratings include one Buy, three Holds, and one Sell.
• The latest quarter’s loss per share was narrower than expected ($0.34 versus $0.53), but revenue came in below consensus at $490.4 million versus $511.65 million.

E.W. Scripps Company (The) (NASDAQ:SSP - Get Free Report) crossed above its 50 day moving average during trading on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $2.86 and traded as high as $2.92. E.W. Scripps shares last traded at $2.88, with a volume of 645,256 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on SSP shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d)" rating on shares of E.W. Scripps in a report on Wednesday, August 26th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on E.W. Scripps from $4.70 to $3.80 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised E.W. Scripps from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, September 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, E.W. Scripps presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $5.90.

E.W. Scripps Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $266.89 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.21 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.08, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $2.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $3.38.

E.W. Scripps (NASDAQ:SSP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported ($0.34) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.53) by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $490.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $511.65 million. E.W. Scripps had a negative net margin of 58.02% and a negative return on equity of 4.58%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in E.W. Scripps by 174.7% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 582,224 shares of the company's stock worth $2,166,000 after acquiring an additional 370,260 shares during the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC lifted its position in E.W. Scripps by 23.2% during the 1st quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 1,375,524 shares of the company's stock worth $5,117,000 after acquiring an additional 258,908 shares during the period. GABELLI & Co INVESTMENT ADVISERS INC. lifted its position in 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 worth $898,000 after acquiring an additional 169,050 shares during the period. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL grew its stake in E.W. Scripps by 9.0% during the 1st 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in E.W. Scripps by 13.9% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 71,890 shares of the company's stock valued at $267,000 after purchasing an additional 8,746 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.81% of the company's stock.

E.W. Scripps Company Profile

The E.W. Scripps Company NASDAQ: SSP is an American media company that operates local television stations, national news services and digital media businesses. Its local media operations provide broadcast news, weather, sports and community programming, while its national offerings include Scripps News and Court TV.

Scripps distributes content through over-the-air television, digital platforms and streaming services. The company also operates ION, a national broadcast network known for entertainment programming, as well as other television and digital brands.

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