E.W. Scripps (NASDAQ:SSP) Major Shareholder Purchases $1,016,600.00 in Stock

E.W. Scripps Company (The) (NASDAQ:SSP) major shareholder Corina Granado acquired 260,000 shares of E.W. Scripps stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $3.91 per share, for a total transaction of $1,016,600.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider owned 590,275 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,307,975.25. The trade was a 78.72% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Large shareholders that own 10% or more of a company’s stock are required to disclose their sales and purchases with the SEC.

E.W. Scripps Trading Up 7.3%

Shares of SSP traded up $0.30 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $4.41. 1,434,807 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 529,694. E.W. Scripps Company has a fifty-two week low of $1.36 and a fifty-two week high of $4.98. The business has a 50-day moving average of $3.65 and a 200-day moving average of $3.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $391.61 million, a P/E ratio of -2.36 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.13, a current ratio of 1.65 and a quick ratio of 1.61.

E.W. Scripps (NASDAQ:SSP) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 4.69% and a negative return on equity of 0.27%. The firm had revenue of $560.26 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $550.82 million. On average, research analysts expect that E.W. Scripps Company will post 1.07 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on SSP shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of E.W. Scripps in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of E.W. Scripps from $3.00 to $3.90 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Benchmark raised their price target on shares of 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 downgraded shares of E.W. Scripps from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $6.95.

Institutional Trading of E.W. Scripps

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SSP. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in E.W. Scripps by 1.4% during the fourth 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 position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 4,342 shares in the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of E.W. Scripps by 18.2% in the 4th quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 31,297 shares of the company’s stock worth $125,000 after acquiring an additional 4,819 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co. raised its holdings in shares of E.W. Scripps by 25.8% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its position in E.W. Scripps by 67.1% in the 3rd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 14,923 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 5,992 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.81% of the company’s stock.

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.