Eaton Scripps Acquires 27,990 Shares of E.W. Scripps (NASDAQ:SSP) Stock

E.W. Scripps Company (The) (NASDAQ:SSP) major shareholder Eaton Scripps bought 27,990 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $4.17 per share, for a total transaction of $116,718.30. Following the purchase, the insider owned 1,316,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,488,449.75. The trade was a 2.17% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Major shareholders that own 10% or more of a company’s stock are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

E.W. Scripps Trading Up 3.6%

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

E.W. Scripps (NASDAQ:SSP) last released 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). E.W. Scripps had a negative net margin of 4.69% and a negative return on equity of 0.27%. The company had revenue of $560.26 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $550.82 million. As a group, analysts forecast that E.W. Scripps Company will post 1.07 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on SSP. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on E.W. Scripps from $3.00 to $3.90 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating on shares of E.W. Scripps in a report on Friday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of E.W. Scripps in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Benchmark raised their target price on shares of E.W. Scripps from $8.00 to $10.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded E.W. Scripps from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $6.95.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

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

More E.W. Scripps News

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.

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.