E.W. Scripps (NASDAQ:SSP) Cut to Sell at Wall Street Zen

E.W. Scripps (NASDAQ:SSP) was downgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Sunday.

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on E.W. Scripps from $4.00 to $3.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $5.50.

E.W. Scripps Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of SSP opened at $2.99 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.92, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.27. E.W. Scripps has a one year low of $1.36 and a one year high of $4.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $264.11 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.23 and a beta of 1.01. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $3.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $2.61.

E.W. Scripps (NASDAQ:SSP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported ($0.12) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by ($0.08). E.W. Scripps had a return on equity of 17.68% and a net margin of 4.25%.The firm had revenue of $540.08 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $544.17 million. Equities research analysts forecast that E.W. Scripps will post 1.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On E.W. Scripps

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. State of Wyoming acquired a new position in E.W. Scripps during the 2nd quarter worth about $156,000. Oxford Asset Management LLP acquired a new position in E.W. Scripps during the 2nd quarter worth about $46,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in E.W. Scripps by 17.4% during the 2nd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 68,209 shares of the company’s stock worth $201,000 after acquiring an additional 10,110 shares in the last quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in E.W. Scripps by 5.9% during the 2nd quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 441,254 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,297,000 after acquiring an additional 24,541 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in E.W. Scripps by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 525,451 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,545,000 after acquiring an additional 16,872 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.