E.W. Scripps (NASDAQ:SSP) Major Shareholder Acquires $17,920.00 in Stock

E.W. Scripps Company (The) (NASDAQ:SSP) major shareholder Austin Heidt bought 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $4.48 per share, for a total transaction of $17,920.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 4,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,920. This trade represents a ? increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 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 Price Performance

Shares of SSP opened at $3.97 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $3.70 and a 200-day moving average price of $3.41. E.W. Scripps Company has a fifty-two week low of $1.90 and a fifty-two week high of $4.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $352.54 million, a PE ratio of -2.12 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.13, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a current ratio of 1.65.

E.W. Scripps (NASDAQ:SSP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported ($0.06) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.46 by ($0.52). The business had revenue of $560.26 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $550.82 million. E.W. Scripps had a negative net margin of 4.69% and a negative return on equity of 0.27%. Equities analysts predict that E.W. Scripps Company will post 1.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised 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 worth $18,842,000 after purchasing an additional 871,159 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in E.W. Scripps by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,671,714 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,650,000 after buying an additional 60,729 shares during the last quarter. Penn Capital Management Company LLC increased its holdings in E.W. Scripps by 151.7% in the 3rd quarter. Penn Capital Management Company LLC now owns 3,599,606 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,864,000 after buying an additional 2,169,640 shares during the period. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL increased its holdings in E.W. Scripps by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 2,442,039 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,744,000 after buying an additional 16,359 shares during the period. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its position in E.W. Scripps by 142.3% during the 3rd 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. 67.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Benchmark lifted their price target on E.W. Scripps from $8.00 to $10.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating on shares of E.W. Scripps in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of E.W. Scripps in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on E.W. Scripps from $3.00 to $3.90 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note 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 research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, E.W. Scripps has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $6.95.

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.