Short Interest in The E.W. Scripps Company (NASDAQ:SSP) Increases By 19.9%

The E.W. Scripps Company (NASDAQ:SSP) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,190,000 shares, an increase of 19.9% from the May 31st total of 4,330,000 shares. Approximately 8.6% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 1,300,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.0 days.

Institutional Trading of E.W. Scripps

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its position in shares of E.W. Scripps by 1,394.8% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 4,350 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 4,059 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of E.W. Scripps by 93.5% in the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,210 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 2,517 shares in the last quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of E.W. Scripps in the fourth quarter valued at $82,000. Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of E.W. Scripps in the third quarter valued at $55,000. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of E.W. Scripps in the first quarter valued at $40,000. 67.81% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on E.W. Scripps from $6.00 to $4.50 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 13th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and issued a $14.00 target price on shares of E.W. Scripps in a report on Monday, May 13th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded E.W. Scripps from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th.

E.W. Scripps Stock Performance

E.W. Scripps stock traded down $0.04 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $3.10. 388,601 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,023,578. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $3.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $4.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $264.71 million, a PE ratio of -0.27 and a beta of 1.79. E.W. Scripps has a one year low of $1.96 and a one year high of $11.02. The company has a quick ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.82.

E.W. Scripps (NASDAQ:SSP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 9th. The company reported ($0.10) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.06) by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $561.46 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $571.01 million. E.W. Scripps had a positive return on equity of 3.17% and a negative net margin of 39.87%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that E.W. Scripps will post 0.75 earnings per share for the current year.

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.