E.W. Scripps (NASDAQ:SSP) Downgraded by Wall Street Zen to Sell

Wall Street Zen cut shares of E.W. Scripps (NASDAQ:SSP) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report published on Saturday morning.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of E.W. Scripps from $4.70 to $3.80 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Benchmark lowered their price objective on shares of E.W. Scripps from $10.00 to $8.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of E.W. Scripps in a report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, E.W. Scripps presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $5.90.

E.W. Scripps Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ SSP opened at $3.26 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $302.10 million, a P/E ratio of -0.23 and a beta of 0.65. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $3.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $3.56. E.W. Scripps has a fifty-two week low of $2.02 and a fifty-two week high of $5.39. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.08.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On E.W. Scripps

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SSP. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in shares of E.W. Scripps by 8.6% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 316,113 shares of the company’s stock valued at $936,000 after purchasing an additional 25,070 shares in the last quarter. Strs Ohio acquired a new position in shares of E.W. Scripps in the 1st quarter worth approximately $117,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of E.W. Scripps by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,516,298 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,459,000 after purchasing an additional 10,957 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning raised its holdings in shares of E.W. Scripps by 111.4% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 49,518 shares of the company’s stock worth $146,000 after purchasing an additional 26,090 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of E.W. Scripps by 14.6% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 152,443 shares of the company’s stock worth $448,000 after purchasing an additional 19,393 shares in the last quarter. 67.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.