E.W. Scripps (NASDAQ:SSP) Major Shareholder Molly Mccabe Sells 112,284 Shares

E.W. Scripps Company (The) (NASDAQ:SSP) major shareholder Molly Mccabe sold 112,284 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.40, for a total value of $381,765.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 11,239 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,212.60. The trade was a 90.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Large shareholders that own more than 10% of a company’s stock are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

E.W. Scripps Stock Performance

Shares of SSP stock traded down $0.07 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $3.42. The stock had a trading volume of 377,457 shares, compared to its average volume of 706,318. The firm has a market capitalization of $313.07 million, a PE ratio of -1.85 and a beta of 0.72. E.W. Scripps Company has a twelve month low of $2.02 and a twelve month high of $5.39. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $4.04 and its 200 day moving average is $3.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.08, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.58.

E.W. Scripps (NASDAQ:SSP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 8th. The company reported ($0.20) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.52) by $0.32. The business had revenue of $516.87 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $516.86 million. E.W. Scripps had a negative return on equity of 0.56% and a negative net margin of 4.63%. As a group, research analysts forecast that E.W. Scripps Company will post 0.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On E.W. Scripps

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 3,472 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in E.W. Scripps by 2.4% in the second quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 182,344 shares of the company’s stock valued at $536,000 after acquiring an additional 4,342 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in E.W. Scripps by 18.2% in the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 31,297 shares of the company’s stock valued at $125,000 after acquiring an additional 4,819 shares during the period. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC lifted its holdings in E.W. Scripps by 23.8% in the first quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 26,075 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,000 after acquiring an additional 5,020 shares during the period. Finally, Diversified Trust Co. lifted its holdings in E.W. Scripps by 25.8% in the fourth quarter. Diversified Trust Co. now owns 24,845 shares of the company’s stock valued at $99,000 after acquiring an additional 5,101 shares during the period. 67.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SSP has been the subject of several recent research reports. Zacks Research raised E.W. Scripps from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of E.W. Scripps in a report on Friday, March 6th. Benchmark decreased their price target on E.W. Scripps from $10.00 to $8.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on E.W. Scripps from $3.00 to $3.90 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, E.W. Scripps has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $5.95.

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.