Insider Buying: E.W. Scripps (NASDAQ:SSP) Major Shareholder Acquires $266,978.38 in Stock

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

E.W. Scripps Price Performance

SSP stock opened at $4.57 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $3.68 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $3.38. E.W. Scripps Company has a 1 year low of $1.36 and a 1 year high of $4.98. The stock has a market cap of $405.83 million, a PE ratio of -2.44 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a current ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.13.

E.W. Scripps (NASDAQ:SSP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported ($0.06) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by ($0.52). The firm had revenue of $560.26 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $550.82 million. E.W. Scripps had a negative net margin of 4.69% and a negative return on equity of 0.27%. Equities analysts forecast that E.W. Scripps Company will post 1.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Key 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 Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in E.W. Scripps by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 246,777 shares of the company’s stock valued at $985,000 after purchasing an additional 3,472 shares during the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of E.W. Scripps by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 182,344 shares of the company’s stock worth $536,000 after purchasing an additional 4,342 shares during the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of E.W. Scripps by 18.2% during the 4th quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 31,297 shares of the company’s stock worth $125,000 after purchasing an additional 4,819 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co. raised its stake in shares of E.W. Scripps by 25.8% during the 4th quarter. Diversified Trust Co. now owns 24,845 shares of the company’s stock worth $99,000 after purchasing an additional 5,101 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its holdings in shares of E.W. Scripps by 67.1% in the 3rd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 14,923 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 5,992 shares during the last quarter. 67.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.