Elizabeth Scripps Acquires 3,077 Shares of E.W. Scripps (NASDAQ:SSP) Stock

E.W. Scripps Company (The) (NASDAQ:SSP) major shareholder Elizabeth Scripps bought 3,077 shares of E.W. Scripps stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $4.64 per share, with a total value of $14,277.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 13,421 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $62,273.44. This represents a 29.75% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Major shareholders that own at least 10% of a company’s stock are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

Elizabeth Scripps also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Thursday, March 5th, Elizabeth Scripps purchased 2,324 shares of E.W. Scripps stock. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $4.43 per share, for a total transaction of $10,295.32.
• On Wednesday, March 4th, Elizabeth Scripps purchased 2,099 shares of E.W. Scripps stock. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $4.17 per share, for a total transaction of $8,752.83.

E.W. Scripps Price Performance

Shares of SSP traded down $0.20 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $4.40. 1,133,842 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 575,071. E.W. Scripps Company has a 12 month low of $1.36 and a 12 month high of $4.98. 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 stock has a market cap of $390.72 million, a PE ratio of -2.35 and a beta of 0.53. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $3.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $3.39.

E.W. Scripps (NASDAQ:SSP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported ($0.06) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.46 by ($0.52). The company had revenue of $560.26 million during 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%. Equities analysts expect that E.W. Scripps Company will post 1.07 EPS for the current year.

Key Stories Impacting E.W. Scripps

Here are the key news stories impacting E.W. Scripps this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Large insider buying from the Scripps family and related major shareholders — several disclosed purchases on March 6–9 that increase insider ownership meaningfully (combined purchases ~296k shares). Notable moves: Margaret Scripps Klenzing bought 159,515 shares (27.4% increase in her stake) at $4.64; Eaton M. Scripps bought 41,017 shares (3.0% increase) at $4.64; Corina S. Granado bought 79,758 shares (11.1% increase) at $4.64; Anthony S. Granado and Elizabeth Scripps also added shares. Insider buys at or near the current trading level signal confidence from large owners and can be viewed as a bullish vote of confidence. Margaret Scripps Klenzing filing Eaton M. Scripps filing Corina S. Granado filing Anthony S. Granado filings Elizabeth Scripps filing
• Neutral Sentiment: Short interest reports for March 9–10 show zero reported short positions and display erroneous “NaN” changes — data appears unreliable or not updated. With reported short interest effectively at 0 shares and a 0.0 days-to-cover metric, there is no clear short-seller pressure indicated by these filings; investors should treat these figures cautiously and watch for corrected data from exchanges.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on SSP shares. Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating on shares of E.W. Scripps in a research report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company upped 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. Benchmark increased their target price 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. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of E.W. Scripps in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $6.95.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in shares of E.W. Scripps by 8.6% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 316,113 shares of the company’s stock worth $936,000 after acquiring an additional 25,070 shares during the last quarter. Strs Ohio bought a new position in shares of E.W. Scripps during the 1st quarter valued at $117,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of E.W. Scripps by 6.4% during the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,231,807 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,618,000 after purchasing an additional 74,435 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in E.W. Scripps by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,516,298 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,459,000 after purchasing an additional 10,957 shares during the period. Finally, Bailard Inc. raised its position in E.W. Scripps by 47.5% in the 2nd quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 89,600 shares of the company’s stock worth $263,000 after purchasing an additional 28,858 shares during the period. 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.