E.W. Scripps (NASDAQ:SSP) Director Charles Barmonde Purchases 40,000 Shares of Stock

E.W. Scripps Company (The) (NASDAQ:SSP) Director Charles Barmonde acquired 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was bought at an average price of $3.91 per share, with a total value of $156,400.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 740,069 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,893,669.79. The trade was a 5.71% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

E.W. Scripps Trading Up 3.2%

Shares of E.W. Scripps stock traded up $0.14 during trading on Friday, hitting $4.55. 638,266 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 531,460. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.13, a current ratio of 1.65 and a quick ratio of 1.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $404.05 million, a P/E ratio of -2.43 and a beta of 0.54. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $3.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $3.36. E.W. Scripps Company has a 1-year low of $1.36 and a 1-year high of $4.98.

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

E.W. Scripps News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Major shareholder Corina S. Granado significantly increased her stake with two disclosed buys (260,000 shares at ~$3.91 on Mar 3 and 69,976 shares at ~$4.17 on Mar 4), taking her position above 10% — a large, visible vote of confidence that reduces free float and likely supports buying interest. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: CEO Adam Symson purchased 26,910 shares (~$3.69 avg), and board members Charles Barmonde (40,000 shares) and Monica Holcomb (7,500 shares) also bought stock — coordinated insider buying by management/board often signals confidence in near-term outlook. Read More. Read More. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Media coverage highlighting the concentrated insider buying spree amplified visibility and likely attracted short-term buyers and momentum traders. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Scripps agreed to acquire WTVQ (Lexington, KY) from Morris Network for $15.8M — a modest but accretive local-TV expansion that should help regional ad revenue and distribution reach. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest data reported effectively zero shares short as of Mar 5 (0.0 days ratio) — the figure looks noisy/rounded and is unlikely to be a primary cause of intraday moves.
• Negative Sentiment: Fundamentals remain a headwind: the Feb. 25 quarter showed an EPS miss (reported ($0.06) vs. $0.46 expected) and negative margins/ROE, so upside is reliant on execution and margin recovery over time.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on SSP. Benchmark boosted 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. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of E.W. Scripps in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on 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. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of E.W. Scripps from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, E.W. Scripps presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $6.95.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On E.W. Scripps

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SSP. D Orazio & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of E.W. Scripps in the third quarter worth $27,000. M&T Bank Corp acquired a new stake in E.W. Scripps in the 4th quarter valued at $47,000. State of Alaska Department of Revenue acquired a new position in shares of E.W. Scripps during the 4th quarter worth about $47,000. Franklin Resources Inc. acquired a new position in shares of E.W. Scripps during the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Pinnacle Associates Ltd. bought a new position in shares of E.W. Scripps in the 4th quarter valued at about $50,000. 67.81% of the stock is owned by 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.