E.W. Scripps Company (The) (NASDAQ:SSP) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of E.W. Scripps Company (The) (NASDAQ:SSP) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the five research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have given a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $5.95.

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on SSP. Benchmark cut their target price on E.W. Scripps from $10.00 to $8.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of E.W. Scripps in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Finally, 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.

Insider Transactions at E.W. Scripps

In related news, major shareholder Molly E. Mccabe sold 142,970 shares of E.W. Scripps stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.48, for a total transaction of $497,535.60. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 123,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $429,860.04. The trade was a 53.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 326,675 shares of company stock valued at $1,117,887 in the last quarter. Insiders own 5.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of E.W. Scripps by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 246,777 shares of the company’s stock worth $985,000 after purchasing an additional 3,472 shares during the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. raised its position in E.W. Scripps by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 182,344 shares of the company’s stock worth $536,000 after purchasing an additional 4,342 shares during the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its position in E.W. Scripps by 18.2% during the 4th quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 31,297 shares of the company’s stock worth $125,000 after purchasing an additional 4,819 shares during the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC lifted its holdings in E.W. Scripps by 23.8% during the 1st quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 26,075 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,000 after buying an additional 5,020 shares during the period. Finally, Diversified Trust Co. lifted its holdings in E.W. Scripps by 25.8% during the 4th quarter. Diversified Trust Co. now owns 24,845 shares of the company’s stock worth $99,000 after buying an additional 5,101 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.81% of the company’s stock.

E.W. Scripps Price Performance

Shares of SSP opened at $3.15 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $288.35 million, a PE ratio of -1.70 and a beta of 0.65. The company’s 50-day moving average is $3.40 and its 200-day moving average is $3.71. E.W. Scripps has a fifty-two week low of $2.02 and a fifty-two week high of $5.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.08, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 1.58.

E.W. Scripps (NASDAQ:SSP) last announced its earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The company reported ($0.20) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $516.87 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $516.86 million. Equities analysts forecast that E.W. Scripps will post 0.22 EPS for the current year.

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.