E.W. Scripps (NASDAQ:SSP) Share Price Breaks Above 50 Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?

E.W. Scripps Company (The) (NASDAQ:SSP)’s share price crossed above its fifty day moving average during trading on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $2.86 and traded as high as $2.92. E.W. Scripps shares last traded at $2.88, with a volume of 645,256 shares.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SSP has been the topic of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of E.W. Scripps from $4.70 to $3.80 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of E.W. Scripps from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 19th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of E.W. Scripps in a report on Wednesday, August 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $5.90.

E.W. Scripps Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $266.89 million, a PE ratio of -0.21 and a beta of 0.71. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $2.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $3.38.

E.W. Scripps (NASDAQ:SSP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported ($0.34) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.53) by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $490.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $511.65 million. E.W. Scripps had a negative net margin of 58.02% and a negative return on equity of 4.58%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of E.W. Scripps by 23.8% during the 1st quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 26,075 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,000 after acquiring an additional 5,020 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in E.W. Scripps by 13.9% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 71,890 shares of the company’s stock worth $267,000 after purchasing an additional 8,746 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in E.W. Scripps by 9.9% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 469,174 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,745,000 after purchasing an additional 42,138 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in E.W. Scripps by 1.6% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,729,155 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,873,000 after purchasing an additional 57,441 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rangeley Capital LLC purchased a new position in E.W. Scripps during the first quarter worth approximately $318,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.81% of the company’s stock.

About E.W. Scripps

The E.W. Scripps Company (NASDAQ: SSP) is an American media company that operates local television stations, national news services and digital media businesses. Its local media operations provide broadcast news, weather, sports and community programming, while its national offerings include Scripps News and Court TV.

Scripps distributes content through over-the-air television, digital platforms and streaming services. The company also operates ION, a national broadcast network known for entertainment programming, as well as other television and digital brands.