E.W. Scripps (NASDAQ:SSP) Releases Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.52 EPS

E.W. Scripps (NASDAQ:SSP) announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The company reported ($0.06) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.46 by ($0.52), Zacks reports. The company had revenue of $560.26 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $550.82 million. E.W. Scripps had a return on equity of 9.82% and a net margin of 0.99%.

E.W. Scripps Stock Up 2.9%

Shares of SSP traded up $0.11 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $3.74. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 354,099 shares, compared to its average volume of 465,824. The company has a 50 day moving average of $3.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $3.32. The firm has a market cap of $331.67 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.49 and a beta of 0.62. E.W. Scripps has a 1-year low of $1.36 and a 1-year high of $4.98. The company has a quick ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.13.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SSP. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of E.W. Scripps in the 2nd quarter valued at about $106,000. Vise Technologies Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of E.W. Scripps during the 4th quarter worth about $105,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in shares of E.W. Scripps by 54.8% in the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 33,789 shares of the company’s stock valued at $99,000 after purchasing an additional 11,964 shares during the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in E.W. Scripps by 98.9% in the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 25,818 shares of the company’s stock valued at $76,000 after buying an additional 12,835 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stokes Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in E.W. Scripps in the 4th quarter worth about $75,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.81% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SSP has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of E.W. Scripps in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on E.W. Scripps from $3.00 to $3.90 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $5.95.

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.