Short Interest in The E.W. Scripps Company (NASDAQ:SSP) Declines By 26.6%

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On E.W. Scripps

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Cove Street Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of E.W. Scripps by 124.1% in the 3rd quarter. Cove Street Capital LLC now owns 2,932,656 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,781,000 after purchasing an additional 1,623,777 shares in the last quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC grew its position in E.W. Scripps by 15.1% during the third quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 1,566,248 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,583,000 after buying an additional 205,143 shares during the period. Penn Capital Management Company LLC increased its holdings in E.W. Scripps by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Penn Capital Management Company LLC now owns 1,214,951 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,721,000 after buying an additional 49,313 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of E.W. Scripps by 21.2% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,203,306 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,614,000 after acquiring an additional 210,673 shares during the period. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 3,275 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.81% of the company’s stock.

E.W. Scripps Stock Up 4.3 %

SSP traded up $0.16 on Monday, reaching $3.86. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 526,655 shares, compared to its average volume of 939,049. The company has a quick ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.91. E.W. Scripps has a fifty-two week low of $2.93 and a fifty-two week high of $11.02. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $3.91 and a two-hundred day moving average of $6.04. The company has a market capitalization of $327.41 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.33 and a beta of 1.93.

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 business had revenue of $615.77 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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, analysts forecast that E.W. Scripps will post 0.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on 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.

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.