E.W. Scripps (NASDAQ:SSP) Major Shareholder Purchases $19,221.77 in Stock

E.W. Scripps Company (The) (NASDAQ:SSP) major shareholder Anthony Granado purchased 4,339 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $4.43 per share, for a total transaction of $19,221.77. Following the transaction, the insider owned 28,918 shares in the company, valued at $128,106.74. This represents a 17.65% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Large shareholders that own at least 10% of a company’s shares are required to disclose their sales and purchases with the SEC.

E.W. Scripps Price Performance

SSP stock opened at $4.57 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.13, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a current ratio of 1.65. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $3.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $3.38. The company 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 52-week low of $1.36 and a 52-week high of $4.98.

E.W. Scripps (NASDAQ:SSP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported ($0.06) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.46 by ($0.52). E.W. Scripps had a negative return on equity of 0.27% and a negative net margin of 4.69%.The company had revenue of $560.26 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $550.82 million. Research analysts expect that E.W. Scripps Company will post 1.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

More E.W. Scripps News

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.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Zacks Research downgraded shares of E.W. Scripps from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of E.W. Scripps in a report on Monday, December 22nd. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of E.W. Scripps in a research report on Friday. Benchmark increased 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, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of E.W. Scripps from $3.00 to $3.90 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, E.W. Scripps has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $6.95.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On E.W. Scripps

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of E.W. Scripps by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 246,777 shares of the company’s stock worth $985,000 after buying an additional 3,472 shares during the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. increased its holdings in E.W. Scripps by 2.4% during the second quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 182,344 shares of the company’s stock worth $536,000 after buying an additional 4,342 shares during the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in E.W. Scripps by 18.2% during the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 31,297 shares of the company’s stock worth $125,000 after buying an additional 4,819 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co. raised its position in E.W. Scripps by 25.8% in the fourth quarter. Diversified Trust Co. now owns 24,845 shares of the company’s stock worth $99,000 after acquiring an additional 5,101 shares during the period. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its position in E.W. Scripps by 67.1% in the third quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 14,923 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 5,992 shares during the period. 67.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About E.W. Scripps

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.