E.W. Scripps Company (The) (NASDAQ:SSP) Stock Rated “Hold” by Wall Street Brokerages

E.W. Scripps Company (The) (NASDAQ:SSP) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the five analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have issued a hold recommendation and one has given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $5.90.

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on SSP shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of E.W. Scripps in a research note on Wednesday, August 26th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of E.W. Scripps from $4.70 to $3.80 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded E.W. Scripps from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 19th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On E.W. Scripps

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of SSP. Sei Investments Co. raised its position in shares of E.W. Scripps by 174.7% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 582,224 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,166,000 after purchasing an additional 370,260 shares in the last quarter. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new position in shares of E.W. Scripps in the first quarter valued at approximately $5,273,000. Gabelli Funds LLC lifted its holdings in shares of E.W. Scripps by 23.2% in the first quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 1,375,524 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,117,000 after buying an additional 258,908 shares during the period. GABELLI & Co INVESTMENT ADVISERS INC. raised its holdings in shares of E.W. Scripps by 233.3% in the 1st quarter. GABELLI & Co INVESTMENT ADVISERS INC. now owns 241,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $898,000 after purchasing an additional 169,050 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gamco Investors INC. ET AL boosted its stake in shares of E.W. Scripps by 9.0% during the 1st quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 2,661,878 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,902,000 after acquiring an additional 219,839 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.81% of the company’s stock.

E.W. Scripps Stock Down 4.9%

Shares of SSP traded down $0.14 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $2.69. The stock had a trading volume of 789,906 shares, compared to its average volume of 642,902. 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 1.34 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The company has a market cap of $249.28 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.19 and a beta of 0.71. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $3.08 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $3.36.

E.W. Scripps (NASDAQ:SSP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported ($0.34) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.53) by $0.19. The business had revenue of $490.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $511.65 million. E.W. Scripps had a negative return on equity of 4.58% and a negative net margin of 58.02%.

About E.W. Scripps

E.W. Scripps (NASDAQ:SSP) is an American media company that operates local television stations, national television networks and digital media businesses. Its local media operations provide broadcast news, weather, sports and other programming to communities across the United States, with stations affiliated with major networks as well as independent stations.

The company’s national networks include Scripps News, a 24-hour news service, and entertainment and specialty networks such as ION, Bounce, Court TV, Grit, Laff and Defy TV.