E.W. Scripps Company (The) (NASDAQ:SSP) Stock Has Average Target Price of $5.90

E.W. Scripps Company (The) (NASDAQ:SSP) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the five brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have given a hold recommendation and one has issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $5.90.

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded E.W. Scripps from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, September 19th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of E.W. Scripps in a research note on Wednesday, August 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on 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.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On E.W. Scripps

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in shares of E.W. Scripps by 174.7% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 582,224 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,166,000 after buying an additional 370,260 shares during the last quarter. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. purchased a new position in shares of E.W. Scripps in the 1st quarter worth $5,273,000. Gabelli Funds LLC grew 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 worth $5,117,000 after acquiring an additional 258,908 shares during the period. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL grew its holdings in shares of E.W. Scripps by 9.0% in the first 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 during the period. Finally, GABELLI & Co INVESTMENT ADVISERS INC. increased its position in E.W. Scripps by 233.3% during the first quarter. GABELLI & Co INVESTMENT ADVISERS INC. now owns 241,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $898,000 after acquiring an additional 169,050 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.81% of the company’s stock.

E.W. Scripps Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:SSP opened at $2.76 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.08. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $3.15 and a 200-day moving average price of $3.47. The company has a market cap of $255.77 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.20 and a beta of 0.68. E.W. Scripps has a 12 month low of $2.02 and a 12 month high of $5.39.

E.W. Scripps (NASDAQ:SSP) last posted its earnings results 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. E.W. Scripps had a negative return on equity of 4.58% and a negative net margin of 58.02%.The company had revenue of $490.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $511.65 million.

About E.W. Scripps

The E.W. Scripps Company is a diversified media company that operates local television stations and national broadcast and digital media networks. Its local media business provides news, weather, sports and community programming through television stations serving markets across the United States, along with related digital platforms.

Scripps’ national portfolio includes Scripps News, a 24-hour news service, and entertainment and specialty networks such as ION, Bounce, Court TV, Grit and ION Mystery.