E.W. Scripps (NASDAQ:SSP) Major Shareholder Margaret Scripps Klenzing Acquires 120,534 Shares

E.W. Scripps Company (The) (NASDAQ:SSP) major shareholder Margaret Scripps Klenzing bought 120,534 shares of E.W. Scripps stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $4.43 per share, with a total value of $533,965.62. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider owned 582,463 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,580,311.09. This trade represents a 26.09% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Large shareholders that own at least 10% of a company’s stock are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

Margaret Scripps Klenzing also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, March 4th, Margaret Scripps Klenzing purchased 139,951 shares of E.W. Scripps stock. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $4.17 per share, for a total transaction of $583,595.67.

E.W. Scripps Stock Up 3.6%

Shares of SSP stock traded up $0.16 on Friday, hitting $4.57. 1,401,285 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 549,543. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $405.83 million, a P/E ratio of -2.44 and a beta of 0.54. E.W. Scripps Company has a fifty-two week low of $1.36 and a fifty-two week high of $4.98. The business has a 50-day moving average of $3.66 and a 200 day moving average of $3.36.

E.W. Scripps (NASDAQ:SSP) last announced its 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 firm had revenue of $560.26 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $550.82 million. E.W. Scripps had a negative net margin of 4.69% and a negative return on equity of 0.27%. Equities analysts anticipate that E.W. Scripps Company will post 1.07 EPS for the current year.

Key Headlines Impacting E.W. Scripps

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.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On E.W. Scripps

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position 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 valued at $936,000 after buying an additional 25,070 shares during the last quarter. Strs Ohio bought a new stake in E.W. Scripps in the 1st quarter valued at $117,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 74,435 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in E.W. Scripps by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,516,298 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,459,000 after purchasing an additional 10,957 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bailard Inc. boosted its position in E.W. Scripps by 47.5% during the second quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 89,600 shares of the company’s stock worth $263,000 after purchasing an additional 28,858 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.81% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SSP has been the subject of several recent research reports. Benchmark increased their target price on shares of E.W. Scripps from $8.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a 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. Wells Fargo & Company raised 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. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of E.W. Scripps in a research report on Friday. Finally, Zacks Research lowered E.W. Scripps from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, E.W. Scripps has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $6.95.

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.