The E.W. Scripps Company (NASDAQ:SSP) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

The E.W. Scripps Company (NASDAQ:SSP) saw a significant drop in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,910,000 shares, a drop of 26.6% from the March 31st total of 5,330,000 shares. Currently, 6.4% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 1,100,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.6 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of E.W. Scripps from $9.00 to $7.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 9th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On E.W. Scripps

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. PAX Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in E.W. Scripps by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. PAX Financial Group LLC now owns 54,225 shares of the company’s stock worth $297,000 after purchasing an additional 2,282 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of E.W. Scripps by 93.5% during the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,210 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 2,517 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 2,766 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of E.W. Scripps by 0.9% during the first quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 319,414 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,255,000 after buying an additional 2,858 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in shares of E.W. Scripps by 0.4% during the fourth 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 institutional investors and hedge funds.

E.W. Scripps Price Performance

SSP traded up $0.01 during trading on Friday, reaching $3.70. The company had a trading volume of 379,322 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,586,539. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $3.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $6.04. E.W. Scripps has a 12-month low of $2.93 and a 12-month high of $11.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.91.

E.W. Scripps (NASDAQ:SSP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 23rd. The company reported ($0.02) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by ($0.48). The company had revenue of $615.77 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $593.00 million. E.W. Scripps had a positive return on equity of 1.81% and a negative net margin of 41.33%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that E.W. Scripps will post 0.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.