Key Points
- Major shareholder Corina Granado purchased 60,266 shares of E.W. Scripps on March 5 at an average price of $4.43 (≈$266,978), bringing her total holdings to 720,517 shares per an SEC filing.
- Multiple insiders including CEO Adam Symson and several directors have also bought shares recently, and Granado’s larger March purchases pushed her above the 10% ownership threshold, signaling insider confidence and potentially tightening the free float.
- Despite the insider buying, Scripps reported a quarterly EPS miss (−$0.06 vs $0.46 expected), negative margins and ROE, and carries a market cap of ~$405.8M with mixed analyst ratings and a consensus price target of $6.95.
E.W. Scripps Company (The) (NASDAQ:SSP - Get Free Report) major shareholder Elizabeth Scripps acquired 2,324 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $4.43 per share, for a total transaction of $10,295.32. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 10,344 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $45,823.92. This trade represents a 28.98% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Major shareholders that own at least 10% of a company's stock are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.
Elizabeth Scripps also recently made the following trade(s):
- On Wednesday, March 4th, Elizabeth Scripps bought 2,099 shares of E.W. Scripps stock. The shares were purchased at an average price of $4.17 per share, with a total value of $8,752.83.
E.W. Scripps Trading Up 3.6%
Shares of NASDAQ SSP traded up $0.16 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $4.57. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,401,285 shares, compared to its average volume of 539,685. E.W. Scripps Company has a 12 month low of $1.36 and a 12 month high of $4.98. The stock has a market cap of $405.82 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.44 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.13, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a current ratio of 1.65. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $3.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $3.37.
E.W. Scripps (NASDAQ:SSP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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). 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $550.82 million. On average, analysts anticipate that E.W. Scripps Company will post 1.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On E.W. Scripps
Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. XTX Topco Ltd raised its holdings in E.W. Scripps by 47.2% in the second quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 351,406 shares of the company's stock worth $1,033,000 after purchasing an additional 112,608 shares in the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $5,705,000 after buying an additional 1,361,721 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of 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 worth $3,618,000 after buying an additional 74,435 shares during the period. Bailard Inc. grew its position in shares of E.W. Scripps by 47.5% in the 2nd quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 89,600 shares of the company's stock worth $263,000 after buying an additional 28,858 shares during the period. Finally, Teton Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of E.W. Scripps in the 3rd quarter worth about $728,000. 67.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of brokerages recently commented on SSP. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on 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. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d+)" rating on shares of E.W. Scripps in a report on Monday, December 22nd. Zacks Research cut shares of E.W. Scripps from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of E.W. Scripps in a research note on Friday. Finally, Benchmark boosted their price target on shares of E.W. Scripps from $8.00 to $10.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, E.W. Scripps presently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $6.95.
View Our Latest Stock Analysis on SSP
Trending Headlines about E.W. Scripps
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.
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.
Further Reading
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