Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Reduces Stock Position in The E.W. Scripps Company (NASDAQ:SSP)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. cut its holdings in The E.W. Scripps Company (NASDAQ:SSP) by 23.0% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,697,221 shares of the company’s stock after selling 505,965 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in E.W. Scripps were worth $3,810,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in SSP. Cove Street Capital LLC boosted its stake in E.W. Scripps by 34.2% during the first quarter. Cove Street Capital LLC now owns 3,703,082 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,553,000 after buying an additional 944,328 shares during the period. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL boosted its stake in shares of E.W. Scripps by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 3,360,347 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,206,000 after purchasing an additional 27,192 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 2,191,666 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised 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 during the period. Finally, Gabelli Funds LLC raised its position in E.W. Scripps by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 1,141,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,486,000 after purchasing an additional 25,000 shares during the period. 67.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on SSP shares. StockNews.com cut E.W. Scripps from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Benchmark dropped their price objective on E.W. Scripps from $14.00 to $11.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 12th.

E.W. Scripps Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:SSP opened at $3.32 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $2.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $2.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.79, a quick ratio of 1.50 and a current ratio of 1.50. The E.W. Scripps Company has a one year low of $1.68 and a one year high of $9.35. The firm has a market cap of $285.91 million, a PE ratio of -0.91 and a beta of 1.74.

E.W. Scripps (NASDAQ:SSP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported ($0.15) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.02 by ($0.17). E.W. Scripps had a negative net margin of 11.06% and a positive return on equity of 2.94%. The firm had revenue of $573.63 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $586.65 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.09) EPS.

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.