E.W. Scripps (NASDAQ:SSP) Major Shareholder Molly Mccabe Sells 11,239 Shares

E.W. Scripps Company (The) (NASDAQ:SSP) major shareholder Molly Mccabe sold 11,239 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 owned 266,493 shares in the company, valued at $876,761.97. The trade was a 4.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Major shareholders that own at least 10% of a company’s shares are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

E.W. Scripps Stock Down 2.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:SSP traded down $0.07 on Friday, hitting $3.42. 377,457 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 706,318. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.08, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a current ratio of 1.58. E.W. Scripps Company has a 1-year low of $2.02 and a 1-year high of $5.39. The company has a market capitalization of $313.07 million, a PE ratio of -1.85 and a beta of 0.72. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $4.04 and its 200 day moving average is $3.89.

E.W. Scripps (NASDAQ:SSP) last issued its earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The company reported ($0.20) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.52) by $0.32. E.W. Scripps had a negative return on equity of 0.56% and a negative net margin of 4.63%.The business had revenue of $516.87 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $516.86 million. Sell-side analysts predict that E.W. Scripps Company will post 0.22 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On E.W. Scripps

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Penn Capital Management Company LLC raised its stake in E.W. Scripps by 151.7% during the 3rd quarter. Penn Capital Management Company LLC now owns 3,599,606 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,864,000 after acquiring an additional 2,169,640 shares in the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its position 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. Teton Advisors LLC purchased a new position in E.W. Scripps during the 3rd quarter worth $728,000. Gabelli Funds LLC grew its position in E.W. Scripps by 16.5% during the 4th quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 1,116,616 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,455,000 after purchasing an additional 158,116 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Minerva Advisors LLC grew its position in 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 purchasing an additional 126,078 shares during the last quarter. 67.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on SSP shares. Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of E.W. Scripps in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of E.W. Scripps from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Benchmark cut their price target on shares of E.W. Scripps from $10.00 to $8.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $5.95.

E.W. Scripps Company 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.