E.W. Scripps (NASDAQ:SSP) Major Shareholder Corina Granado Acquires 260,000 Shares

E.W. Scripps Company (The) (NASDAQ:SSP) major shareholder Corina Granado bought 260,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $3.91 per share, with a total value of $1,016,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 590,275 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,307,975.25. The trade was a 78.72% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Major shareholders that own 10% or more of a company’s stock are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

E.W. Scripps Stock Up 7.0%

Shares of SSP stock traded up $0.31 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $4.72. 443,756 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 523,564. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $3.66 and its 200-day moving average is $3.36. E.W. Scripps Company has a fifty-two week low of $1.36 and a fifty-two week high of $4.98. The company has a market cap of $419.15 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.52 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a current ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.13.

E.W. Scripps (NASDAQ:SSP) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported ($0.06) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.46 by ($0.52). The company had revenue of $560.26 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $550.82 million. E.W. Scripps had a negative return on equity of 0.27% and a negative net margin of 4.69%. Analysts predict that E.W. Scripps Company will post 1.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Zacks Research cut shares of E.W. Scripps from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of E.W. Scripps in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price 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. Finally, Benchmark increased their price target 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 assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, E.W. Scripps has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $6.95.

Key E.W. Scripps News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Large insider accumulation by a major shareholder — Corina S. Granado disclosed two recent buys (260,000 shares at ~$3.91 on Mar 3 and 69,976 shares at $4.17 on Mar 4), increasing her stake above 10%. Big, disclosed purchases from a >10% holder signal confidence in the company and reduce available float. Granado SEC Filing
• Positive Sentiment: CEO Adam Symson bought 26,910 shares at ~$3.69 (2.37% increase to his position), signaling management confidence in the stock. Insider buys from the CEO often support short-term bullish sentiment. CEO Filing
• Positive Sentiment: Board members increased holdings — Director Charles Barmonde bought 40,000 shares and Director Monica Holcomb bought 7,500 shares (both at ~ $3.91). Multiple board-level purchases reinforce the insider buying theme. Barmonde Filing Holcomb Filing
• Positive Sentiment: Market coverage noted an insider buying spree at Scripps, amplifying visibility of the clustered purchases and likely driving short-term buying interest. TipRanks Article
• Positive Sentiment: Strategic local TV expansion — Scripps agreed to buy WTVQ (Lexington, KY) from Morris Network for $15.8M, expanding local broadcast footprint and revenue potential in a regional market. Transaction size is modest versus company market cap but is directly accretive to local advertising and distribution. Business Insider Article
• Neutral Sentiment: Short interest report shows effectively 0 shares reported short as of Mar 5 (short-interest ratio 0.0 days). The data appears noisy/rounded and is unlikely to meaningfully explain intraday moves.
• Negative Sentiment: Recent fundamental weakness: Scripps reported an EPS miss on Feb 25 (($0.06) vs. $0.46 expected) and reported negative margins — a reminder that operational performance and profitability remain headwinds until revenue/margin trends improve. (Background earnings release)

Hedge Funds Weigh In On E.W. Scripps

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SSP. Penn Capital Management Company LLC grew its stake in E.W. Scripps by 151.7% during 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 in the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its stake 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 worth $5,705,000 after acquiring an additional 1,361,721 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings in E.W. Scripps by 886.8% during the 3rd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,280,898 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,151,000 after acquiring an additional 1,151,092 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of E.W. Scripps by 22.6% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,722,317 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,842,000 after purchasing an additional 871,159 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. grew its stake in shares of E.W. Scripps by 82.5% during the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 815,751 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,255,000 after purchasing an additional 368,852 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.81% of the company’s stock.

E.W. Scripps Company 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.