E.W. Scripps (NASDAQ:SSP) Major Shareholder Purchases $19,221.77 in Stock

E.W. Scripps Company (The) (NASDAQ:SSP) major shareholder Anthony Granado bought 4,339 shares of E.W. Scripps stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $4.43 per share, with a total value of $19,221.77. Following the acquisition, the insider owned 28,918 shares in the company, valued at approximately $128,106.74. This represents a 17.65% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Major shareholders that own 10% or more of a company’s shares are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

E.W. Scripps Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:SSP traded up $0.16 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $4.57. 1,401,285 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 549,543. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.13, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a current ratio of 1.65. E.W. Scripps Company has a one year low of $1.36 and a one year high of $4.98. The company has a market cap of $405.83 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.44 and a beta of 0.54. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $3.66 and a 200 day moving average of $3.36.

E.W. Scripps (NASDAQ:SSP) last issued its earnings results 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). The business had revenue of $560.26 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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, equities research analysts anticipate that E.W. Scripps Company will post 1.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on SSP. Wells Fargo & Company raised 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. Benchmark raised their price target on E.W. Scripps from $8.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of E.W. Scripps in a report on Friday. Zacks Research cut E.W. Scripps from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of E.W. Scripps in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. One equities 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, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $6.95.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On E.W. Scripps

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. XTX Topco Ltd increased its holdings in E.W. Scripps by 47.2% in the 2nd quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 351,406 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,033,000 after acquiring an additional 112,608 shares in the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in E.W. Scripps by 142.3% during the third quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 2,318,987 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,705,000 after purchasing an additional 1,361,721 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of E.W. Scripps by 6.4% in the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 1,231,807 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,618,000 after purchasing an additional 74,435 shares during the period. Bailard Inc. increased 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. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd increased its stake in shares of E.W. Scripps by 67.7% in the second quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 46,987 shares of the company’s stock worth $138,000 after purchasing an additional 18,961 shares in the last quarter. 67.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.

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.