E.W. Scripps (NASDAQ:SSP) Major Shareholder Acquires $30,354.36 in Stock

E.W. Scripps Company (The) (NASDAQ:SSP) major shareholder Vanessa Sanchez bought 6,852 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 9th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $4.43 per share, for a total transaction of $30,354.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 6,852 shares in the company, valued at $30,354.36. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Large shareholders that own 10% or more of a company’s shares are required to disclose their sales and purchases with the SEC.

E.W. Scripps Stock Performance

E.W. Scripps stock opened at $3.97 on Friday. E.W. Scripps Company has a 52 week low of $1.90 and a 52 week high of $4.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.13. The stock has a market cap of $352.54 million, a P/E ratio of -2.12 and a beta of 0.54. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $3.70 and a 200-day moving average of $3.41.

E.W. Scripps (NASDAQ:SSP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported ($0.06) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by ($0.52). The company had revenue of $560.26 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 expect that E.W. Scripps Company will post 1.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SSP has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of E.W. Scripps in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Zacks Research cut shares of E.W. Scripps from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of E.W. Scripps in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective 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. Finally, Benchmark upped 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, E.W. Scripps has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $6.95.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On E.W. Scripps

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. XTX Topco Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of E.W. Scripps by 47.2% during the second quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 351,406 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,033,000 after acquiring an additional 112,608 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its position in shares of E.W. Scripps by 142.3% during 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. Teton Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of E.W. Scripps in the 3rd quarter worth about $728,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its position in E.W. Scripps by 6.4% in the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,231,807 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,618,000 after purchasing an additional 74,435 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bailard Inc. lifted its position in E.W. Scripps by 47.5% in the 2nd quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 89,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $263,000 after purchasing an additional 28,858 shares during the last quarter. 67.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.