Gamco Investors INC. ET AL Has $5.97 Million Stake in E.W. Scripps Company (The) $SSP

Gamco Investors INC. ET AL lowered its holdings in E.W. Scripps Company (The) (NASDAQ:SSP) by 6.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,425,680 shares of the company’s stock after selling 173,741 shares during the period. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL owned about 2.75% of E.W. Scripps worth $5,967,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Teton Advisors LLC bought a new stake in E.W. Scripps during the 3rd quarter worth about $728,000. Minerva Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of E.W. Scripps by 10.0% during the 3rd quarter. Minerva Advisors LLC now owns 1,385,920 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,409,000 after buying an additional 126,078 shares during the last quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of E.W. Scripps in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of E.W. Scripps in the 3rd quarter valued at about $53,000. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its position in shares of E.W. Scripps by 142.3% in the third quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 2,318,987 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,705,000 after acquiring an additional 1,361,721 shares during the last quarter. 67.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Key E.W. Scripps News

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.

Insider Activity at E.W. Scripps

In other E.W. Scripps news, CEO Adam Symson bought 26,910 shares of E.W. Scripps stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $3.69 per share, for a total transaction of $99,297.90. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 1,164,457 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,296,846.33. The trade was a 2.37% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Margaret Scripps Klenzing bought 139,951 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $4.17 per share, for a total transaction of $583,595.67. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider directly owned 461,929 shares in the company, valued at $1,926,243.93. The trade was a 43.47% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders purchased a total of 796,801 shares of company stock worth $3,286,592 in the last three months. 3.62% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

E.W. Scripps Trading Up 3.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:SSP opened at $4.57 on Monday. E.W. Scripps Company has a 52-week low of $1.36 and a 52-week high of $4.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.13, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a current ratio of 1.65. The company has a market capitalization of $405.83 million, a P/E ratio of -2.44 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $3.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $3.38.

E.W. Scripps (NASDAQ:SSP) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $550.82 million. E.W. Scripps had a negative return on equity of 0.27% and a negative net margin of 4.69%. Sell-side analysts forecast that E.W. Scripps Company will post 1.07 earnings per share for the current year.

E.W. Scripps 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.