E.W. Scripps (NASDAQ:SSP) Major Shareholder Acquires $30,354.36 in Stock

E.W. Scripps Company (The) (NASDAQ:SSP) major shareholder Anthony Granado acquired 6,852 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 9th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $4.43 per share, for a total transaction of $30,354.36. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider owned 41,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $183,898.16. This represents a 19.77% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Major shareholders that own at least 10% of a company’s stock are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

E.W. Scripps Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ SSP traded down $0.07 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $4.00. The stock had a trading volume of 74,048 shares, compared to its average volume of 579,185. The company has a quick ratio of 1.65, a current ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.13. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $3.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $3.41. The company has a market capitalization of $355.38 million, a PE ratio of -2.13 and a beta of 0.54. E.W. Scripps Company has a 1 year low of $1.90 and a 1 year high of $4.98.

E.W. Scripps (NASDAQ:SSP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported ($0.06) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $560.26 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $550.82 million. On average, sell-side analysts expect that E.W. Scripps Company will post 1.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on SSP. Benchmark increased their price target on shares of E.W. Scripps from $8.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of E.W. Scripps from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of E.W. Scripps in a report on Friday, March 6th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of E.W. Scripps in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $6.95.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On E.W. Scripps

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of SSP. XTX Topco Ltd boosted its stake in E.W. Scripps by 47.2% in the second quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 351,406 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,033,000 after acquiring an additional 112,608 shares in the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its position in shares of E.W. Scripps by 142.3% during the third quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 2,318,987 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,705,000 after purchasing an additional 1,361,721 shares in the last quarter. Teton Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of E.W. Scripps during the third quarter worth about $728,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of E.W. Scripps by 6.4% in 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. Finally, Bailard Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of E.W. Scripps by 47.5% in the 2nd quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 89,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $263,000 after purchasing an additional 28,858 shares during the last quarter. 67.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.