Should You Be Optimistic on E.W. Scripps (SSP)?

Investment management company Cove Street Capital recently released its “Small Cap Value Fund” second quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. In the second quarter, the fund returned -10.77% (net of fees) compared to -3.28% for the Russell 2000 Index and -3.64% for the Russell 2000 Value Index. For the first half of 2024, the S&P 500 is up 15%. Its biggest component, Nvidia, has increased by 150% over that time. In addition, you can check the top 5 holdings of the fund to know its best picks in 2024.

Cove Street Capital Small Cap Value Fund highlighted stocks like The E.W. Scripps Company (NASDAQ:SSP), in the second quarter 2024 investor letter. The E.W. Scripps Company (NASDAQ:SSP) is a media company that operates through a portfolio of local television stations, national news, and entertainment networks. The one-month return of The E.W. Scripps Company (NASDAQ:SSP) was 26.83%, and its shares lost 70.49% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On July 10, 2024, The E.W. Scripps Company (NASDAQ:SSP) stock closed at $2.86 per share with a market capitalization of $244.215 million.

Cove Street Capital Small Cap Value Fund stated the following regarding The E.W. Scripps Company (NASDAQ:SSP) in its Q2 2024 investor letter:

"The E.W. Scripps Company (NASDAQ:SSP) is too stupid cheap and too levered. We think both will be relieved to a great degree by an upcoming sale of their Bounce network, which could be sold for more than their current market cap. We also note Berkshire Hathaway and the Scripps family are key variables here being underestimated in the public opinion of balance sheet resolution for the company. A complete miss in national advertising trends in the past year has developed into a hairier balance sheet to which we generally feel comfortable. We again have been slowly in and out of the equity several times over the past seven years with solid results. This time around has been a little stickier."

A technician preparing a broadcast satellite dish for transmission of cable content.

The E.W. Scripps Company (NASDAQ:SSP) is not on our list of 31 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 16 hedge fund portfolios held The E.W. Scripps Company (NASDAQ:SSP) at the end of the first quarter which was 11 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the potential of The E.W. Scripps Company (NASDAQ:SSP) as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter timeframe. If you are looking for an AI stock that is as promising as NVIDIA but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.

The E.W. Scripps Company (NASDAQ:SSP) was on Cove Street Capital's detractors' list in the prior quarter as well. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q2 2024 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors.

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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.