E.W. Scripps (NASDAQ:SSP) Major Shareholder Purchases $533,965.62 in Stock

E.W. Scripps Company (The) (NASDAQ:SSP) major shareholder Margaret Scripps Klenzing bought 120,534 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $4.43 per share, with a total value of $533,965.62. Following the transaction, the insider owned 582,463 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,580,311.09. The trade was a 26.09% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Large shareholders that own at least 10% of a company’s stock are required to disclose their sales and purchases with the SEC.

Margaret Scripps Klenzing also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, March 4th, Margaret Scripps Klenzing purchased 139,951 shares of E.W. Scripps stock. The stock was purchased at an average price of $4.17 per share, for a total transaction of $583,595.67.

E.W. Scripps Trading Up 3.6%

NASDAQ:SSP traded up $0.16 on Friday, hitting $4.57. 1,401,285 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 549,543. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.13, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a current ratio of 1.65. E.W. Scripps Company has a 52 week low of $1.36 and a 52 week high of $4.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $405.83 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.44 and a beta of 0.54. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $3.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $3.36.

E.W. Scripps (NASDAQ:SSP) last issued its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $560.26 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $550.82 million. E.W. Scripps had a negative return on equity of 0.27% and a negative net margin of 4.69%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that E.W. Scripps Company will post 1.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Trending Headlines about E.W. Scripps

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

• Positive Sentiment: Leadership and directors buying shares — CEO Adam Symson bought 26,910 shares (~$3.69 avg) and multiple directors (Charles Barmonde, Monica Holcomb) added positions, signaling management confidence and reducing available float. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Major shareholder materially increased stake — Corina S. Granado bought large blocks (260,000 shares at ~$3.91 on Mar 3 and ~70k shares at ~$4.17 on Mar 4), pushing her above the 10% threshold; that is a high-visibility vote of confidence and may tighten free float. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Small strategic acquisition — Scripps agreed to buy WTVQ (Lexington, KY) for $15.8M, a targeted TV-market add that should modestly expand local ad reach and revenue potential. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest data looks effectively zero but appears noisy/rounded — the report shows no meaningful short-interest and is unlikely to be a primary driver of price action. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Recent fundamentals remain a concern — the Feb. 25 quarter missed EPS expectations (reported ($0.06) vs. $0.46 expected) and showed negative margins/ROE; sustained upside depends on margin recovery and execution. Read More.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On E.W. Scripps

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SSP. D Orazio & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of E.W. Scripps in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Franklin Resources Inc. acquired a new stake in E.W. Scripps during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its stake in E.W. Scripps by 67.1% in the third quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 14,923 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 5,992 shares in the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC acquired a new position in shares of E.W. Scripps in the third quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of E.W. Scripps in the third quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Institutional investors own 67.81% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SSP has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Benchmark increased their price target 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 reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of E.W. Scripps in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating on shares of E.W. Scripps in a report on Friday. Zacks Research cut E.W. Scripps from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, E.W. Scripps currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $6.95.

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.