E.W. Scripps (NASDAQ:SSP) Major Shareholder Purchases $16,342.23 in Stock

E.W. Scripps Company (The) (NASDAQ:SSP) major shareholder Anthony Granado bought 3,919 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $4.17 per share, for a total transaction of $16,342.23. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 24,579 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $102,494.43. This trade represents a 18.97% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Large shareholders that own more than 10% of a company’s shares are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

E.W. Scripps Stock Up 3.6%

NASDAQ SSP traded up $0.16 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $4.57. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,401,285 shares, compared to its average volume of 549,543. The firm 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 simple moving average is $3.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $3.36. The company has a current ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.13. E.W. Scripps Company has a twelve month low of $1.36 and a twelve month high of $4.98.

E.W. Scripps (NASDAQ:SSP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported ($0.06) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by ($0.52). The business had revenue of $560.26 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $550.82 million. E.W. Scripps had a negative net margin of 4.69% and a negative return on equity of 0.27%. Analysts anticipate that E.W. Scripps Company will post 1.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SSP has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of E.W. Scripps from $3.00 to $3.90 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Zacks Research cut shares of E.W. Scripps from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of E.W. Scripps in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. 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 report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of E.W. Scripps in a research report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $6.95.

Key Headlines Impacting 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.

Institutional Trading of E.W. Scripps

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SSP. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of E.W. Scripps by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 246,777 shares of the company’s stock worth $985,000 after acquiring an additional 3,472 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in E.W. Scripps by 11.1% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 427,036 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,704,000 after purchasing an additional 42,542 shares during the period. Stokes Family Office LLC purchased a new position in shares of E.W. Scripps in the fourth quarter worth about $75,000. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of E.W. Scripps by 13.7% in the fourth quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 808,936 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,228,000 after purchasing an additional 97,542 shares during the period. Finally, GAM Holding AG purchased a new stake in shares of E.W. Scripps during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $319,000. 67.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.