StockNews.com Begins Coverage on Lee Enterprises (NYSE:LEE)

StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Lee Enterprises (NYSE:LEE) in a research report sent to investors on Sunday morning. The brokerage issued a buy rating on the stock.

Lee Enterprises Trading Up 4.7 %

Shares of LEE opened at $9.64 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $8.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $10.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $59.22 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.80 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.34. Lee Enterprises has a 1-year low of $7.56 and a 1-year high of $15.89.

Lee Enterprises (NYSE:LEE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported ($0.73) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by ($1.41). The company had revenue of $150.58 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $165.48 million. Lee Enterprises had a negative net margin of 2.88% and a negative return on equity of 112.98%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.25 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Lee Enterprises will post -2.02 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Gabelli Funds LLC lifted its position in Lee Enterprises by 25.0% during the 4th quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 57,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $453,000 after acquiring an additional 11,500 shares during the period. Corsair Capital Management L.P. purchased a new position in Lee Enterprises during the 4th quarter valued at about $128,000. Finally, Gamco Investors INC. ET AL lifted its position in Lee Enterprises by 94.8% during the 1st quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 149,150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,988,000 after acquiring an additional 72,600 shares during the period. 39.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Lee Enterprises

Lee Enterprises, Incorporated provides local news and information, and advertising services in the United States. The company offers digital subscription platforms; daily, weekly, and monthly newspapers and niche publications; and web hosting and content management services. It also provides advertising and marketing services, such as audience extension, search engine optimization, search engine marketing, web and mobile production, social media services, and reputation monitoring and management.