Short Interest in The E.W. Scripps Company (NASDAQ:SSP) Drops By 18.9%

The E.W. Scripps Company (NASDAQ:SSP) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,860,000 shares, a decrease of 18.9% from the July 15th total of 4,760,000 shares. Currently, 6.3% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 964,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.0 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on SSP shares. Benchmark dropped their price objective on shares of E.W. Scripps from $14.00 to $11.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of E.W. Scripps from $6.00 to $4.50 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 13th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of E.W. Scripps from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On E.W. Scripps

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SSP. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in E.W. Scripps by 1,154.7% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,404,607 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,550,000 after purchasing an additional 2,212,959 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in shares of E.W. Scripps by 270.6% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 3,001,601 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,425,000 after acquiring an additional 2,191,666 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of E.W. Scripps by 1,619.1% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,203,186 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,918,000 after acquiring an additional 2,075,027 shares during the period. Cove Street Capital LLC grew its position in shares of E.W. Scripps by 34.2% during the 1st quarter. Cove Street Capital LLC now owns 3,703,082 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,553,000 after acquiring an additional 944,328 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in shares of E.W. Scripps during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,833,000. 67.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

E.W. Scripps Trading Up 2.4 %

NASDAQ:SSP opened at $2.10 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.82, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 1.43. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $2.88 and a 200-day moving average of $3.77. The company has a market cap of $179.32 million, a PE ratio of -0.18 and a beta of 1.79. E.W. Scripps has a one year low of $1.96 and a one year high of $9.35.

E.W. Scripps (NASDAQ:SSP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported ($0.15) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.02 by ($0.17). E.W. Scripps had a positive return on equity of 3.17% and a negative net margin of 39.87%. The firm had revenue of $573.63 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $586.65 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.09) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that E.W. Scripps will post 0.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.