Brokerages Set E.W. Scripps Company (The) (NASDAQ:SSP) Target Price at $5.95

Shares of E.W. Scripps Company (The) (NASDAQ:SSP) have received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the five research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $5.95.

Several research analysts have weighed in on SSP shares. 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. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of E.W. Scripps in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Benchmark decreased their price objective on E.W. Scripps from $10.00 to $8.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 11th.

E.W. Scripps Stock Up 10.0%

E.W. Scripps stock opened at $3.09 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $3.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $3.66. The stock has a market cap of $282.86 million, a PE ratio of -1.67 and a beta of 0.65. E.W. Scripps has a 1-year low of $2.02 and a 1-year 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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $516.87 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $516.86 million. On average, sell-side analysts expect that E.W. Scripps will post 0.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Molly E. Mccabe sold 11,239 shares of E.W. Scripps stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.29, for a total transaction of $36,976.31. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 266,493 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $876,761.97. The trade was a 4.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 326,675 shares of company stock worth $1,117,887 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 5.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SSP. Penn Capital Management Company LLC lifted its holdings in shares of E.W. Scripps by 151.7% during the third quarter. Penn Capital Management Company LLC now owns 3,599,606 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,864,000 after purchasing an additional 2,169,640 shares during the last quarter. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new stake in E.W. Scripps during the 1st quarter worth about $5,273,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its holdings in E.W. Scripps by 886.8% during the 3rd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,280,898 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,151,000 after buying an additional 1,151,092 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in E.W. Scripps by 22.6% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,722,317 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,842,000 after buying an additional 871,159 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in E.W. Scripps by 174.7% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 582,224 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,166,000 after buying an additional 370,260 shares in the last quarter. 67.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About E.W. Scripps

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.