Corina Granado Buys 60,266 Shares of E.W. Scripps (NASDAQ:SSP) Stock

E.W. Scripps Company (The) (NASDAQ:SSP) major shareholder Corina Granado bought 60,266 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The shares were bought at an average price of $4.43 per share, with a total value of $266,978.38. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider directly owned 720,517 shares in the company, valued at $3,191,890.31. This trade represents a 9.13% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Large shareholders that own 10% or more of a company’s shares are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

E.W. Scripps Price Performance

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 stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $3.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $3.38. The firm has a market cap of $405.82 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.44 and a beta of 0.54. E.W. Scripps Company has a 1 year low of $1.36 and a 1 year high of $4.98.

E.W. Scripps (NASDAQ:SSP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported ($0.06) earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $560.26 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $550.82 million. As a group, analysts predict that E.W. Scripps Company will post 1.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of E.W. Scripps in a report on Friday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of E.W. Scripps in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased 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. Zacks Research cut E.W. Scripps from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Benchmark boosted their price target on E.W. Scripps from $8.00 to $10.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $6.95.

More E.W. Scripps News

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.

Institutional Trading of E.W. Scripps

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in shares of E.W. Scripps by 8.6% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 316,113 shares of the company’s stock worth $936,000 after acquiring an additional 25,070 shares during the period. Strs Ohio bought a new position in shares of E.W. Scripps in the 1st quarter worth approximately $117,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its stake 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 valued at $3,618,000 after purchasing an additional 74,435 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of E.W. Scripps by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,516,298 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,459,000 after purchasing an additional 10,957 shares during the period. Finally, Bailard Inc. lifted its position in E.W. Scripps by 47.5% during the second quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 89,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $263,000 after buying an additional 28,858 shares during the period. 67.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.