Key Points
- Major shareholder Corina Granado bought 260,000 shares at an average of $3.91 on March 3 (about $1.02M), raising her stake to 590,275 shares and pushing her above the 10% ownership threshold.
- Several other insiders—including CEO Adam Symson and multiple board members—also bought shares in the same period, a clustered insider-buying trend that signals management confidence and may reduce available float.
- Counterbalancing the insider activity, E.W. Scripps recently missed quarterly EPS expectations (($0.06) vs. $0.46), reported negative margins, and faces mixed analyst views (average rating "Reduce" with an average target of $6.95).
E.W. Scripps Company (The) (NASDAQ:SSP - Get Free Report) Director Monica Holcomb purchased 7,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $3.91 per share, with a total value of $29,325.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 24,005 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $93,859.55. This represents a 45.44% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.
E.W. Scripps Stock Up 3.6%
SSP traded up $0.16 during trading on Friday, hitting $4.57. The company had a trading volume of 809,829 shares, compared to its average volume of 535,406. E.W. Scripps Company has a 1-year low of $1.36 and a 1-year high of $4.98. 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 company has a market cap of $405.83 million, a PE ratio of -2.44 and a beta of 0.54. The business has a 50-day moving average of $3.66 and a 200-day moving average of $3.36.
E.W. Scripps (NASDAQ:SSP - Get Free Report) last released 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). The company had revenue of $560.26 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $550.82 million. E.W. Scripps had a negative return on equity of 0.27% and a negative net margin of 4.69%. As a group, analysts forecast that E.W. Scripps Company will post 1.07 earnings per share for the current year.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Zacks Research downgraded E.W. Scripps from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Benchmark boosted their target price on shares of E.W. Scripps from $8.00 to $10.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating on shares of E.W. Scripps in a research report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of E.W. Scripps from $3.00 to $3.90 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d+)" rating on shares of E.W. Scripps in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, E.W. Scripps currently has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $6.95.
Read Our Latest Analysis on SSP
Key Stories Impacting E.W. Scripps
Here are the key news stories impacting E.W. Scripps this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Large insider purchases: CEO Adam Symson bought 26,910 shares (~$3.69 avg) and several directors also bought (Charles Barmonde 40,000; Monica Holcomb 7,500). Insider buying from leadership is being read as confidence in the business. CEO Purchases 26,910 Shares
- Positive Sentiment: Major shareholder increases position: Corina S. Granado disclosed large buys (260,000 shares at ~$3.91 on Mar 3 and 69,976 shares at ~$4.17 on Mar 4), taking her stake above 10% — a material, visible vote of confidence that reduces free float. SEC Filing
- Positive Sentiment: Acquisition expands local footprint: Scripps agreed to buy WTVQ (Lexington, KY) from Morris Network for $15.8M — a small, strategic TV-market add that could modestly lift regional ad revenue and distribution. WTVQ Purchase
- Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest report shows effectively zero reported short interest as of Mar 5 — the number appears noisy/rounded and is unlikely to be a primary driver of today’s move. Market Data
- Negative Sentiment: Weak fundamentals headline risk: Feb. 25 quarter missed EPS expectations (reported ($0.06) vs. $0.46 expected) and showed negative margins/ROE — any sustained upside depends on margin recovery and execution. Earnings Summary
Institutional Trading of E.W. Scripps
Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of SSP. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in E.W. Scripps by 8.6% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 316,113 shares of the company's stock worth $936,000 after purchasing an additional 25,070 shares during the last quarter. Strs Ohio bought a new position in E.W. Scripps in the 1st quarter worth approximately $117,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its position in E.W. Scripps by 6.4% in the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,231,807 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,618,000 after acquiring an additional 74,435 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 10,957 shares during the period. Finally, Bailard Inc. grew its stake in shares of E.W. Scripps by 47.5% in the second quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 89,600 shares of the company's stock worth $263,000 after purchasing an additional 28,858 shares in the last quarter. 67.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
E.W. Scripps Company Profile
(
Get Free Report)
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.
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