E.W. Scripps Company (The) $SSP Shares Acquired by Gamco Investors INC. ET AL

Gamco Investors INC. ET AL raised its position in shares of E.W. Scripps Company (The) (NASDAQ:SSP) by 9.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,661,878 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 219,839 shares during the period. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL owned 2.99% of E.W. Scripps worth $9,902,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in shares of E.W. Scripps by 8.6% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 316,113 shares of the company’s stock worth $936,000 after purchasing an additional 25,070 shares in the last quarter. Strs Ohio bought a new stake in shares of E.W. Scripps during the 1st quarter worth about $117,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of E.W. Scripps by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,516,298 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,459,000 after acquiring an additional 10,957 shares during the period. Creative Planning boosted its holdings in shares of E.W. Scripps by 111.4% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 49,518 shares of the company’s stock valued at $146,000 after acquiring an additional 26,090 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of E.W. Scripps by 14.6% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 152,443 shares of the company’s stock valued at $448,000 after acquiring an additional 19,393 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.81% of the company’s stock.

E.W. Scripps Stock Up 1.7%

SSP stock opened at $2.99 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.08, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $273.70 million, a P/E ratio of -1.62 and a beta of 0.65. E.W. Scripps Company has a 52-week low of $2.02 and a 52-week high of $5.39. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $3.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $3.62.

E.W. Scripps (NASDAQ:SSP) last announced its earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The company reported ($0.20) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.52) by $0.32. E.W. Scripps had a negative net margin of 4.63% and a negative return on equity of 0.56%. The company had revenue of $516.87 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $516.86 million. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that E.W. Scripps Company will post 0.22 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at E.W. Scripps

In related news, major shareholder Molly E. Mccabe sold 11,239 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.29, for a total transaction of $36,976.31. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 266,493 shares in the company, valued at approximately $876,761.97. This trade represents a 4.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders have sold 326,675 shares of company stock worth $1,117,887 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 5.24% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SSP has been the subject of a number of research reports. Benchmark decreased their price target on E.W. Scripps from $10.00 to $8.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Zacks Research raised shares of E.W. Scripps from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of E.W. Scripps in a report on Friday, May 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $5.95.

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.