E.W. Scripps (NASDAQ:SSP) Major Shareholder Acquires $283,320.65 in Stock

E.W. Scripps Company (The) (NASDAQ:SSP) major shareholder Samantha Brickner purchased 63,955 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 9th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $4.43 per share, for a total transaction of $283,320.65. Following the acquisition, the insider owned 64,021 shares in the company, valued at approximately $283,613.03. This trade represents a 96,901.52% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Large shareholders that own more than 10% of a company’s stock are required to disclose their sales and purchases with the SEC.

E.W. Scripps Stock Performance

Shares of SSP stock opened at $3.97 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $3.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $3.41. The stock has a market cap of $352.54 million, a PE ratio of -2.12 and a beta of 0.54. E.W. Scripps Company has a 1 year low of $1.90 and a 1 year high of $4.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.13, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a current ratio of 1.65.

E.W. Scripps (NASDAQ:SSP) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported ($0.06) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by ($0.52). The firm had revenue of $560.26 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $550.82 million. E.W. Scripps had a negative return on equity of 0.27% and a negative net margin of 4.69%. Sell-side analysts forecast that E.W. Scripps Company will post 1.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on SSP. Benchmark boosted their price objective on shares of E.W. Scripps from $8.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted 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 research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of E.W. Scripps in a report on Friday, March 6th. Zacks Research lowered shares of E.W. Scripps from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of E.W. Scripps in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $6.95.

Institutional Trading of E.W. Scripps

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake 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 purchasing an additional 3,472 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in shares of E.W. Scripps by 11.1% during 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 during the last quarter. Stokes Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in shares of E.W. Scripps during the fourth quarter worth about $75,000. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of E.W. Scripps by 13.7% during the fourth quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 808,936 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,228,000 after buying an additional 97,542 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAM Holding AG acquired a new position in shares of E.W. Scripps in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $319,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.81% of the company’s stock.

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.