E.W. Scripps (NASDAQ:SSP) Major Shareholder Anthony Granado Buys 3,919 Shares

E.W. Scripps Company (The) (NASDAQ:SSP) major shareholder Anthony Granado acquired 3,919 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $4.17 per share, for a total transaction of $16,342.23. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider directly owned 24,579 shares in the company, valued at approximately $102,494.43. This represents a 18.97% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Large shareholders that own at least 10% of a company’s shares are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

E.W. Scripps Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ SSP traded up $0.16 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $4.57. 1,401,285 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 539,685. 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 has a market capitalization of $405.82 million, a PE ratio of -2.44 and a beta of 0.54. E.W. Scripps Company has a one year low of $1.36 and a one year high of $4.98. The company’s 50 day moving average is $3.68 and its 200 day moving average is $3.37.

E.W. Scripps (NASDAQ:SSP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported ($0.06) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.46 by ($0.52). The business had revenue of $560.26 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $550.82 million. E.W. Scripps had a negative return on equity of 0.27% and a negative net margin of 4.69%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that E.W. Scripps Company will post 1.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on SSP. Benchmark lifted their price target on E.W. Scripps from $8.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Zacks Research lowered E.W. Scripps from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of E.W. Scripps in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on E.W. Scripps from $3.00 to $3.90 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating on shares of E.W. Scripps in a research report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, E.W. Scripps has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $6.95.

Key Stories Impacting 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.

Institutional Trading of E.W. Scripps

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Penn Capital Management Company LLC boosted its position 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 buying an additional 2,169,640 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its holdings in shares of E.W. Scripps by 142.3% in the third quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 2,318,987 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,705,000 after buying an additional 1,361,721 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,151,092 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of E.W. Scripps by 22.6% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,722,317 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,842,000 after acquiring an additional 871,159 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its holdings in E.W. Scripps by 82.5% during the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 815,751 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,255,000 after acquiring an additional 368,852 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.81% of the company’s stock.

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.