E.W. Scripps (NASDAQ:SSP) Major Shareholder Sells $36,976.31 in Stock

E.W. Scripps Company (The) (NASDAQ:SSP) major shareholder Molly Mccabe sold 11,239 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.29, for a total value of $36,976.31. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 266,493 shares in the company, valued at approximately $876,761.97. This trade represents a 4.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Major 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

SSP stock opened at $3.42 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $4.04 and its 200-day moving average is $3.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.08. The company has a market cap of $313.07 million, a P/E ratio of -1.85 and a beta of 0.72. E.W. Scripps Company has a twelve month low of $2.02 and a twelve month high of $5.39.

E.W. Scripps (NASDAQ:SSP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 8th. The company reported ($0.20) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.52) by $0.32. The company had revenue of $516.87 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $516.86 million. E.W. Scripps had a negative return on equity of 0.56% and a negative net margin of 4.63%. Equities research analysts forecast that E.W. Scripps Company will post 0.22 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on SSP. Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating on shares of E.W. Scripps in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Benchmark lowered their price objective on shares of 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. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of E.W. Scripps from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $5.95.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On E.W. Scripps

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SSP. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 25,070 shares in the last quarter. Strs Ohio bought a new position in E.W. Scripps during the 1st quarter worth about $117,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 10,957 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning increased its holdings in E.W. Scripps by 111.4% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 49,518 shares of the company’s stock worth $146,000 after purchasing an additional 26,090 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in E.W. Scripps by 14.6% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 152,443 shares of the company’s stock worth $448,000 after purchasing an additional 19,393 shares in the last quarter. 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.