E.W. Scripps Company (The) (NASDAQ:SSP) Receives $5.95 Consensus Price Target from Analysts

E.W. Scripps Company (The) (NASDAQ:SSP) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the five brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have issued a hold recommendation and one has issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $5.95.

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on SSP shares. Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of E.W. Scripps in a report on Friday, March 6th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of E.W. Scripps from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Benchmark reduced their price objective on shares of E.W. Scripps from $10.00 to $8.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 11th.

Insider Buying and Selling at E.W. Scripps

In related news, major shareholder Molly E. Mccabe sold 142,970 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.48, for a total transaction of $497,535.60. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 123,523 shares in the company, valued at approximately $429,860.04. The trade was a 53.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Samantha J. Brickner purchased 63,955 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 9th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $4.43 per share, for a total transaction of $283,320.65. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider owned 64,021 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $283,613.03. The trade was a 96,901.52% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have bought 1,333,347 shares of company stock valued at $5,738,221 and have sold 326,675 shares valued at $1,117,887. 5.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in E.W. Scripps by 13.9% during the first 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 last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in E.W. Scripps by 9.9% during the first 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 last quarter. Rangeley Capital LLC purchased a new position in E.W. Scripps during the first quarter worth about $318,000. Gabelli Funds LLC boosted its holdings in E.W. Scripps by 23.2% during the first quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 1,375,524 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,117,000 after purchasing an additional 258,908 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GABELLI & Co INVESTMENT ADVISERS INC. boosted its holdings in E.W. Scripps by 233.3% during the first quarter. GABELLI & Co INVESTMENT ADVISERS INC. now owns 241,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $898,000 after purchasing an additional 169,050 shares during the last quarter. 67.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

E.W. Scripps Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ SSP opened at $3.42 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $313.07 million, a P/E ratio of -1.85 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $4.02 and a 200-day moving average price of $3.92. E.W. Scripps has a 1 year low of $2.02 and a 1 year high of $5.39. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 8th. The company reported ($0.20) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.52) by $0.32. The firm had revenue of $516.87 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $516.86 million. E.W. Scripps had a negative net margin of 4.63% and a negative return on equity of 0.56%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that E.W. Scripps will post 0.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.