Eaton Scripps Acquires 30,993 Shares of E.W. Scripps (NASDAQ:SSP) Stock

E.W. Scripps Company (The) (NASDAQ:SSP) major shareholder Eaton Scripps purchased 30,993 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $4.43 per share, for a total transaction of $137,298.99. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider directly owned 1,347,168 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,967,954.24. The trade was a 2.35% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Major shareholders that own more than 10% of a company’s shares are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

E.W. Scripps Stock Up 3.6%

NASDAQ SSP traded up $0.16 on Friday, reaching $4.57. The stock had a trading volume of 1,401,285 shares, compared to its average volume of 549,543. E.W. Scripps Company has a 1 year low of $1.36 and a 1 year high of $4.98. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $3.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $3.36. The company has a current ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.13. The company has a market capitalization of $405.83 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.44 and a beta of 0.54.

E.W. Scripps (NASDAQ:SSP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported ($0.06) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by ($0.52). The firm had revenue of $560.26 million during 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%. On average, analysts forecast that E.W. Scripps Company will post 1.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On E.W. Scripps

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. D Orazio & Associates Inc. bought a new position in E.W. Scripps during the third quarter worth about $27,000. M&T Bank Corp acquired a new position in shares of E.W. Scripps in the 4th quarter worth approximately $47,000. State of Alaska Department of Revenue bought a new position in shares of E.W. Scripps during the 4th quarter worth approximately $47,000. Franklin Resources Inc. acquired a new stake in E.W. Scripps in the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Pinnacle Associates Ltd. bought a new stake in E.W. Scripps in the fourth quarter valued at $50,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.81% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on SSP. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price 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. Benchmark raised their price objective on E.W. Scripps from $8.00 to $10.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Zacks Research cut E.W. Scripps from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of E.W. Scripps in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of E.W. Scripps in a report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $6.95.

E.W. Scripps News Summary

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.

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.