Insider Buying: E.W. Scripps (NASDAQ:SSP) Director Acquires 40,000 Shares of Stock

E.W. Scripps Company (The) (NASDAQ:SSP) Director Charles Barmonde purchased 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $3.91 per share, with a total value of $156,400.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 740,069 shares in the company, valued at $2,893,669.79. This represents a 5.71% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

E.W. Scripps Trading Up 5.1%

NASDAQ:SSP opened at $4.11 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.13. The company has a market capitalization of $364.97 million, a PE ratio of -2.20 and a beta of 0.54. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $3.65 and its 200 day moving average price is $3.36. E.W. Scripps Company has a 52-week low of $1.36 and a 52-week high of $4.98.

E.W. Scripps (NASDAQ:SSP) last posted 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). E.W. Scripps had a negative net margin of 4.69% and a negative return on equity of 0.27%. The firm had revenue of $560.26 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $550.82 million. On average, research analysts anticipate that E.W. Scripps Company will post 1.07 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On E.W. Scripps

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of E.W. Scripps by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 246,777 shares of the company’s stock worth $985,000 after purchasing an additional 3,472 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in shares of E.W. Scripps by 11.1% in the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 427,036 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,704,000 after acquiring an additional 42,542 shares during the period. Stokes Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in E.W. Scripps in the 4th quarter worth $75,000. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC increased its stake in E.W. Scripps by 13.7% during the fourth quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 808,936 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,228,000 after acquiring an additional 97,542 shares during the period. Finally, GAM Holding AG bought a new stake in shares of E.W. Scripps during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $319,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.81% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on E.W. Scripps from $3.00 to $3.90 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of E.W. Scripps in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Zacks Research lowered E.W. Scripps from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Benchmark increased their price objective on shares of E.W. Scripps from $8.00 to $10.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, E.W. Scripps presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $6.95.

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.