E.W. Scripps (NASDAQ:SSP) Price Target Raised to $10.00 at Benchmark

E.W. Scripps (NASDAQ:SSP) had its target price hoisted by equities researchers at Benchmark from $8.00 to $10.00 in a research note issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the stock. Benchmark’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 154.13% from the company’s previous close.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on SSP. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of E.W. Scripps in a report on Monday, December 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $6.95.

E.W. Scripps Stock Up 6.6%

Shares of SSP stock traded up $0.25 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $3.94. 454,392 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 471,356. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $3.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $3.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.13, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 1.61. E.W. Scripps has a 52-week low of $1.36 and a 52-week high of $4.98. The stock has a market cap of $349.43 million, a P/E ratio of -2.10 and a beta of 0.62.

E.W. Scripps (NASDAQ:SSP) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported ($0.06) EPS 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 0.26%. The firm had revenue of $560.26 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $550.82 million. Equities analysts predict that E.W. Scripps will post 1.07 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On E.W. Scripps

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of E.W. Scripps by 22.6% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,722,317 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,842,000 after acquiring an additional 871,159 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of E.W. Scripps by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,671,714 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,650,000 after purchasing an additional 60,729 shares in the last quarter. Penn Capital Management Company LLC raised its holdings in E.W. Scripps by 151.7% in the 3rd quarter. Penn Capital Management Company LLC now owns 3,599,606 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,864,000 after purchasing an additional 2,169,640 shares during the period. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL boosted its position in E.W. Scripps by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 2,442,039 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,744,000 after purchasing an additional 16,359 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 1,361,721 shares during the period. 67.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Headlines Impacting E.W. Scripps

Here are the key news stories impacting E.W. Scripps this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Board extends CEO Adam Symson’s employment agreement, signaling management continuity as Scripps pursues transformation and expansion — a governance/strategy positive that can support investor confidence. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Noble Financial published quarterly EPS forecasts for FY2026 showing a trough in Q1 (-$0.18) with recovery through the year (Q2 $0.16, Q3 $0.49, Q4 $0.46) and an FY estimate near $1.07 — this provides a path to profitability but depends on execution and advertising/retransmission trends. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings materials and the full call transcript are available for deeper read-throughs of management commentary on cost moves, ad demand and strategic initiatives — useful for modeling near-term cash flow and margin recovery. Earnings Call Transcript
• Negative Sentiment: Q4 2025 was mixed: revenue beat estimates ($560.3M vs. ~$550.8M consensus) but EPS missed badly (-$0.06 vs. $0.46 expected). The miss and negative net margin/ROE highlight near-term profitability pressure and likely drove volatility around the print. Press Release

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.