E.W. Scripps Company (The) (NASDAQ:SSP) Given Average Recommendation of “Reduce” by Brokerages

E.W. Scripps Company (The) (NASDAQ:SSP) has earned an average recommendation of “Reduce” from the five brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have issued a hold recommendation and one has given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $6.95.

SSP has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted 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. Zacks Research cut E.W. Scripps from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of E.W. Scripps in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of E.W. Scripps in a report on Friday. Finally, Benchmark boosted their target price on E.W. Scripps from $8.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th.

Key E.W. Scripps News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Large insider purchases: CEO Adam Symson bought 26,910 shares (~$3.69 avg) and several directors also bought (Charles Barmonde 40,000; Monica Holcomb 7,500). Insider buying from leadership is being read as confidence in the business. CEO Purchases 26,910 Shares
• Positive Sentiment: Major shareholder increases position: Corina S. Granado disclosed large buys (260,000 shares at ~$3.91 on Mar 3 and 69,976 shares at ~$4.17 on Mar 4), taking her stake above 10% — a material, visible vote of confidence that reduces free float. SEC Filing
• Positive Sentiment: Acquisition expands local footprint: Scripps agreed to buy WTVQ (Lexington, KY) from Morris Network for $15.8M — a small, strategic TV-market add that could modestly lift regional ad revenue and distribution. WTVQ Purchase
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest report shows effectively zero reported short interest as of Mar 5 — the number appears noisy/rounded and is unlikely to be a primary driver of today’s move. Market Data
• Negative Sentiment: Weak fundamentals headline risk: Feb. 25 quarter missed EPS expectations (reported ($0.06) vs. $0.46 expected) and showed negative margins/ROE — any sustained upside depends on margin recovery and execution. Earnings Summary

E.W. Scripps Trading Up 5.4%

NASDAQ:SSP traded up $0.24 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $4.65. The company had a trading volume of 957,673 shares, compared to its average volume of 538,312. E.W. Scripps has a 1 year low of $1.36 and a 1 year high of $4.98. The company has a market cap of $412.93 million, a P/E ratio of -2.49 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a 50-day moving average of $3.66 and a 200 day moving average of $3.36. The company has a current ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.13.

E.W. Scripps (NASDAQ:SSP) last posted its 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). The company had revenue of $560.26 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $550.82 million. E.W. Scripps had a negative net margin of 4.69% and a negative return on equity of 0.27%. Sell-side analysts expect that E.W. Scripps will post 1.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other E.W. Scripps news, Director Monica Holcomb purchased 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was bought at an average price of $3.91 per share, for a total transaction of $29,325.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 24,005 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $93,859.55. This represents a 45.44% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Corina S. Granado acquired 69,976 shares of E.W. Scripps stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $4.17 per share, for a total transaction of $291,799.92. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider directly owned 660,251 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,753,246.67. This represents a 11.85% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have acquired 404,386 shares of company stock valued at $1,593,423 over the last three months. Insiders own 3.62% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On E.W. Scripps

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Penn Capital Management Company LLC boosted its stake in E.W. Scripps by 151.7% during the 3rd quarter. Penn Capital Management Company LLC now owns 3,599,606 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,864,000 after purchasing an additional 2,169,640 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its stake in 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 buying an additional 1,361,721 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in E.W. Scripps by 886.8% in the 3rd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,280,898 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,151,000 after purchasing an additional 1,151,092 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of E.W. Scripps by 22.6% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,722,317 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,842,000 after buying an additional 871,159 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. raised its position in E.W. Scripps by 82.5% in the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 815,751 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,255,000 after purchasing an additional 368,852 shares during the last quarter. 67.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.