Anthony Granado Buys 4,339 Shares of E.W. Scripps (NASDAQ:SSP) Stock

E.W. Scripps Company (The) (NASDAQ:SSP) major shareholder Anthony Granado bought 4,339 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $4.43 per share, for a total transaction of $19,221.77. Following the purchase, the insider owned 28,918 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $128,106.74. This trade represents a 17.65% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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

Shares of NASDAQ SSP opened at $4.57 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.13, a current ratio of 1.65 and a quick ratio of 1.61. The firm has a market cap of $405.82 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.44 and a beta of 0.54. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $3.68 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $3.38. E.W. Scripps Company has a one year low of $1.36 and a one year high of $4.98.

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

E.W. Scripps News Roundup

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

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in E.W. Scripps by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 246,777 shares of the company’s stock valued at $985,000 after buying an additional 3,472 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in shares of E.W. Scripps by 11.1% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 427,036 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,704,000 after purchasing an additional 42,542 shares in the last quarter. Stokes Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in E.W. Scripps in the 4th quarter valued at $75,000. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC increased its stake in E.W. Scripps by 13.7% during the 4th quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 808,936 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,228,000 after purchasing an additional 97,542 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAM Holding AG acquired a new position in E.W. Scripps during the fourth quarter worth $319,000. 67.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on SSP shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of E.W. Scripps from $3.00 to $3.90 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Benchmark boosted 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 reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of E.W. Scripps in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating on shares of E.W. Scripps in a research note on Friday. Finally, Zacks Research cut 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 issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target 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.