Penn Capital Management Company LLC Boosts Stake in E.W. Scripps Company (The) $SSP

Penn Capital Management Company LLC lifted its holdings in shares of E.W. Scripps Company (The) (NASDAQ:SSP) by 151.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,599,606 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,169,640 shares during the quarter. Penn Capital Management Company LLC owned 4.05% of E.W. Scripps worth $8,864,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its position in shares of E.W. Scripps by 142.3% in the 3rd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 2,318,987 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,705,000 after purchasing an additional 1,361,721 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its holdings in E.W. Scripps by 886.8% in the third quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,280,898 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,151,000 after acquiring an additional 1,151,092 shares in the last quarter. Teton Advisors LLC bought a new position in E.W. Scripps during the 3rd quarter valued at $728,000. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in E.W. Scripps by 61.2% during the 3rd quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 711,394 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,750,000 after acquiring an additional 270,140 shares during the last quarter. Finally, WINTON GROUP Ltd acquired a new position in E.W. Scripps during the 3rd quarter worth $550,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.81% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

E.W. Scripps Stock Down 6.7%

Shares of E.W. Scripps stock opened at $3.62 on Wednesday. E.W. Scripps Company has a twelve month low of $1.90 and a twelve month high of $4.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $321.46 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.94 and a beta of 0.54. 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 business’s 50 day simple moving average is $3.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $3.43.

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 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 company had revenue of $560.26 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $550.82 million. Equities research analysts forecast that E.W. Scripps Company will post 1.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Corina S. Granado acquired 260,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $3.91 per share, for a total transaction of $1,016,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 590,275 shares in the company, valued at $2,307,975.25. This trade represents a 78.72% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder Eaton M. Scripps bought 41,017 shares of E.W. Scripps stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $4.64 per share, with a total value of $190,318.88. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider directly owned 1,388,185 shares in the company, valued at $6,441,178.40. This trade represents a 3.04% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders purchased 1,332,085 shares of company stock worth $5,733,766. 4.13% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.