The E.W. Scripps Company (NASDAQ:SSP) Short Interest Up 19.9% in June

The E.W. Scripps Company (NASDAQ:SSP) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,190,000 shares, an increase of 19.9% from the May 31st total of 4,330,000 shares. Approximately 8.6% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,300,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.0 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On E.W. Scripps

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of SSP. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in E.W. Scripps by 13.9% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 992,633 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,440,000 after acquiring an additional 120,889 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new position in shares of E.W. Scripps in the 3rd quarter valued at $172,000. Minerva Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of E.W. Scripps by 15.5% during the 3rd quarter. Minerva Advisors LLC now owns 604,733 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,308,000 after buying an additional 81,326 shares in the last quarter. Trexquant Investment LP lifted its position in shares of E.W. Scripps by 89.6% during the 3rd quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 86,127 shares of the company’s stock worth $472,000 after buying an additional 40,710 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of E.W. Scripps in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $55,000. 67.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

E.W. Scripps Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of SSP stock opened at $3.13 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $3.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $4.81. E.W. Scripps has a 1 year low of $1.96 and a 1 year high of $11.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.82. The stock has a market cap of $267.27 million, a P/E ratio of -0.27 and a beta of 1.79.

E.W. Scripps (NASDAQ:SSP) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 9th. The company reported ($0.10) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.06) by ($0.04). E.W. Scripps had a positive return on equity of 3.17% and a negative net margin of 39.87%. The company had revenue of $561.46 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $571.01 million. On average, research analysts predict that E.W. Scripps will post 0.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on SSP. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $14.00 target price on shares of E.W. Scripps in a research report on Monday, May 13th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on E.W. Scripps from $6.00 to $4.50 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 13th. Finally, StockNews.com raised E.W. Scripps from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th.

E.W. Scripps Company Profile

The E.W. Scripps Company, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a media enterprise through a portfolio of local television stations, national news, and entertainment networks in the United States. It operates through Local Media, Scripps Networks, and Other segments. The Local Media segment operates broadcast television stations, which produce news, information, sports, and entertainment content, as well as its related digital operations; runs network, syndicated, and original programming, and local sporting events; and provides core and political advertising services.