E.W. Scripps (NASDAQ:SSP) Upgraded by StockNews.com to Hold Rating

StockNews.com upgraded shares of E.W. Scripps (NASDAQ:SSP) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Monday morning.

Separately, Benchmark decreased their price objective on shares of E.W. Scripps from $11.00 to $7.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th.

E.W. Scripps Trading Down 4.8 %

NASDAQ SSP opened at $1.79 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $154.15 million, a PE ratio of -0.61 and a beta of 1.66. E.W. Scripps has a 1-year low of $1.68 and a 1-year high of $9.35. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $2.34 and a 200-day moving average of $2.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.41.

E.W. Scripps (NASDAQ:SSP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.19). E.W. Scripps had a negative net margin of 8.55% and a positive return on equity of 9.40%. The company had revenue of $646.30 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $634.01 million. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.15) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that E.W. Scripps will post 1.07 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of E.W. Scripps

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in E.W. Scripps by 16.7% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 52,257 shares of the company’s stock worth $117,000 after buying an additional 7,460 shares in the last quarter. Wittenberg Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of E.W. Scripps by 52.5% in the 3rd quarter. Wittenberg Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,646,239 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,696,000 after acquiring an additional 566,717 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd lifted its stake in shares of E.W. Scripps by 62.6% in the 3rd quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 68,023 shares of the company’s stock valued at $153,000 after purchasing an additional 26,186 shares during the period. Minerva Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of E.W. Scripps by 48.5% during the third quarter. Minerva Advisors LLC now owns 1,192,441 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,671,000 after purchasing an additional 389,481 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its stake in E.W. Scripps by 18.0% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 494,507 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,110,000 after purchasing an additional 75,380 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.81% of the company’s stock.

About E.W. Scripps

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.