E.W. Scripps (NASDAQ:SSP) Cut to Sell at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of E.W. Scripps (NASDAQ:SSP) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report published on Thursday morning.

SSP has been the subject of several other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of E.W. Scripps from $6.00 to $4.50 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 13th. Benchmark dropped their price target on shares of E.W. Scripps from $14.00 to $11.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 12th.

E.W. Scripps Stock Up 1.0 %

E.W. Scripps stock opened at $2.12 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.82, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a current ratio of 1.43. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $2.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $3.69. E.W. Scripps has a fifty-two week low of $1.96 and a fifty-two week high of $9.35. The company has a market capitalization of $181.03 million, a PE ratio of -0.18 and a beta of 1.79.

E.W. Scripps (NASDAQ:SSP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported ($0.15) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.02 by ($0.17). E.W. Scripps had a negative net margin of 39.87% and a positive return on equity of 3.17%. The firm had revenue of $573.63 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $586.65 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.09) EPS. Research analysts expect that E.W. Scripps will post 0.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of E.W. Scripps

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in E.W. Scripps by 93.5% in the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,210 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 2,517 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its stake in shares of E.W. Scripps by 22.0% during the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 15,321 shares of the company’s stock worth $122,000 after purchasing an additional 2,766 shares in the last quarter. Teton Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in E.W. Scripps by 0.8% in the first quarter. Teton Advisors Inc. now owns 342,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,346,000 after buying an additional 2,800 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. raised its stake in E.W. Scripps by 0.9% in the first quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 319,414 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,255,000 after buying an additional 2,858 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in E.W. Scripps by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 858,690 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,861,000 after buying an additional 3,275 shares during the last quarter. 67.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

E.W. Scripps Company Profile

The E.W. Scripps Company, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a media enterprise through a portfolio of local television stations, national news, and entertainment networks in the United States. It operates through Local Media, Scripps Networks, and Other segments. The Local Media segment operates broadcast television stations, which produce news, information, sports, and entertainment content, as well as its related digital operations; runs network, syndicated, and original programming, and local sporting events; and provides core and political advertising services.