Cove Street Capital LLC Sells 275,245 Shares of E.W. Scripps Company (The) $SSP

Cove Street Capital LLC lessened its position in shares of E.W. Scripps Company (The) (NASDAQ:SSP) by 43.6% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 356,437 shares of the company’s stock after selling 275,245 shares during the quarter. E.W. Scripps accounts for about 1.1% of Cove Street Capital LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding. Cove Street Capital LLC’s holdings in E.W. Scripps were worth $877,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its holdings in E.W. Scripps by 142.3% during the 3rd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 2,318,987 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,705,000 after purchasing an additional 1,361,721 shares during the last quarter. Wittenberg Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of E.W. Scripps by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. Wittenberg Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,087,724 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,138,000 after purchasing an additional 51,710 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of 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 worth $4,459,000 after buying an additional 10,957 shares during the period. Minerva Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of E.W. Scripps by 10.0% during the 3rd quarter. Minerva Advisors LLC now owns 1,385,920 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,409,000 after buying an additional 126,078 shares during the period. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in shares of E.W. Scripps by 886.8% during the third quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,280,898 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,151,000 after buying an additional 1,151,092 shares during the last quarter. 67.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SSP has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of E.W. Scripps in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Benchmark increased their price target 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. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of E.W. Scripps in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective 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, Zacks Research downgraded E.W. Scripps from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $6.95.

E.W. Scripps Price Performance

SSP opened at $3.97 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $352.54 million, a P/E ratio of -2.12 and a beta of 0.54. E.W. Scripps Company has a 12 month low of $1.90 and a 12 month high of $4.98. The company has a quick ratio of 1.65, a current ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.13. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $3.70 and a 200 day simple moving average of $3.41.

E.W. Scripps (NASDAQ:SSP) last posted 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). E.W. Scripps had a negative return on equity of 0.27% and a negative net margin of 4.69%.The business had revenue of $560.26 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $550.82 million. On average, research analysts expect that E.W. Scripps Company will post 1.07 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other E.W. Scripps news, major shareholder Corina S. Granado acquired 260,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $3.91 per share, for a total transaction of $1,016,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 590,275 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,307,975.25. This trade represents a 78.72% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Margaret Scripps Klenzing bought 159,515 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $4.64 per share, with a total value of $740,149.60. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider owned 741,978 shares in the company, valued at $3,442,777.92. This represents a 27.39% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have acquired 1,332,085 shares of company stock worth $5,733,766. Company insiders own 3.62% of the company’s stock.

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.