Latest Ratios: P/E Ratio -1.7x · EV/EBITDA 269.6x · ROE -7.9%. (1996–2025 historical series)
Price-based multiples — how expensive the stock is relative to earnings, sales, book value, and cash flow
| Metric | TTM | FY 2025 | FY 2024 | FY 2023 | FY 2022 | FY 2021 | FY 2020 | FY 2019 | FY 2018 | FY 2017 | FY 2016 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Market Cap | $372M | $351M | $190M | $673M | $1.2B | $1.7B | $1.3B | $1.3B | $1.3B | $1.3B | $1.6B |
| Enterprise Value | $3.1B | $3.1B | $2.9B | $3.7B | $4.1B | $4.9B | $3.7B | $3.3B | $1.9B | $1.8B | $1.9B |
| P/E Ratio → | -1.68 | — | 2.19 | — | 8.14 | 26.15 | 15.14 | — | 62.92 | — | 24.16 |
| P/S Ratio | 0.17 | 0.16 | 0.08 | 0.29 | 0.47 | 0.75 | 0.67 | 0.94 | 1.07 | 1.48 | 1.71 |
| P/B Ratio | 0.22 | 0.28 | 0.14 | 0.58 | 0.54 | 0.86 | 1.08 | 1.41 | 1.39 | 1.37 | 1.71 |
| P/FCF | 57.00 | 53.84 | 0.63 | 12.95 | 4.34 | 9.68 | 5.43 | — | 16.02 | 97.34 | 13.64 |
| P/OCF | 7.00 | 6.61 | 0.52 | 6.03 | 3.70 | 7.18 | 4.51 | — | 9.15 | 31.39 | 11.04 |
P/E links to full P/E history page with 30-year chart
Enterprise-value multiples — capital-structure-neutral measures of total business value
| Metric | TTM | FY 2025 | FY 2024 | FY 2023 | FY 2022 | FY 2021 | FY 2020 | FY 2019 | FY 2018 | FY 2017 | FY 2016 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EV / Revenue | — | 1.42 | 1.14 | 1.61 | 1.69 | 2.14 | 1.97 | 2.42 | 1.55 | 2.11 | 1.99 |
| EV / EBITDA | 269.63 | 267.82 | 5.03 | — | 7.03 | 8.71 | 8.89 | 19.02 | 9.64 | 33.56 | 10.31 |
| EV / EBIT | 18.95 | 30.10 | 6.79 | — | 9.46 | 13.91 | 12.09 | 40.02 | 16.95 | — | 16.32 |
| EV / FCF | — | 468.19 | 9.50 | 70.95 | 15.59 | 27.86 | 15.84 | — | 23.25 | 138.68 | 15.82 |
Margins and return-on-capital ratios measuring operating efficiency
Full margin charts and quarterly trend are on the Earnings History page
| Metric | TTM | FY 2025 | FY 2024 | FY 2023 | FY 2022 | FY 2021 | FY 2020 | FY 2019 | FY 2018 | FY 2017 | FY 2016 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gross Margin | 33.7% | 33.7% | 47.4% | 44.0% | 49.7% | 51.6% | 49.9% | 48.1% | 17.2% | 11.0% | 21.3% |
| Operating Margin | 7.5% | 7.5% | 16.4% | -32.9% | 17.5% | 17.5% | 16.3% | 6.5% | 10.8% | -0.2% | 13.4% |
| Net Profit Margin | -4.7% | -4.7% | 5.8% | -41.3% | 8.0% | 5.4% | 14.5% | -1.4% | 1.7% | -1.5% | 7.1% |
| Metric | TTM | FY 2025 | FY 2024 | FY 2023 | FY 2022 | FY 2021 | FY 2020 | FY 2019 | FY 2018 | FY 2017 | FY 2016 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ROE | -7.9% | -7.9% | 11.8% | -57.7% | 9.6% | 7.8% | 26.1% | -2.0% | 2.2% | -1.4% | 7.3% |
| ROA | -2.0% | -2.0% | 2.8% | -16.0% | 3.0% | 2.1% | 6.4% | -0.6% | 1.0% | -0.7% | 3.9% |
| ROIC | 3.1% | 3.1% | 7.6% | -12.2% | 6.2% | 6.9% | 7.1% | 3.0% | 6.5% | -0.1% | 7.9% |
| ROCE | 3.5% | 3.5% | 8.6% | -13.8% | 7.1% | 7.5% | 7.8% | 3.4% | 6.7% | -0.1% | 8.0% |
Solvency and debt-coverage ratios — lower is generally safer
| Metric | TTM | FY 2025 | FY 2024 | FY 2023 | FY 2022 | FY 2021 | FY 2020 | FY 2019 | FY 2018 | FY 2017 | FY 2016 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Debt / Equity | 2.19 | 2.19 | 2.04 | 2.64 | 1.41 | 1.66 | 2.56 | 2.26 | 0.74 | 0.74 | 0.42 |
| Debt / EBITDA | 239.47 | 239.47 | 4.73 | — | 5.11 | 5.80 | 7.25 | 11.82 | 3.55 | 12.73 | 2.16 |
| Net Debt / Equity | — | 2.17 | 2.02 | 2.61 | 1.40 | 1.62 | 2.06 | 2.22 | 0.63 | 0.58 | 0.27 |
| Net Debt / EBITDA | 237.02 | 237.02 | 4.69 | — | 5.08 | 5.68 | 5.84 | 11.62 | 3.00 | 10.00 | 1.42 |
| Debt / FCF | — | 414.35 | 8.86 | 58.00 | 11.25 | 18.18 | 10.41 | — | 7.23 | 41.33 | 2.18 |
| Interest Coverage | 0.46 | 0.46 | 2.00 | -3.53 | 2.72 | 2.13 | 3.25 | 1.01 | 3.05 | -0.20 | 6.37 |
Short-term solvency ratios and asset-utilisation metrics
| Metric | TTM | FY 2025 | FY 2024 | FY 2023 | FY 2022 | FY 2021 | FY 2020 | FY 2019 | FY 2018 | FY 2017 | FY 2016 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Current Ratio | 1.65 | 1.65 | 1.31 | 1.41 | 1.33 | 1.37 | 5.84 | 2.06 | 2.38 | 2.87 | 3.32 |
| Quick Ratio | 1.65 | 1.65 | 1.31 | 1.41 | 1.33 | 1.37 | 5.84 | 2.06 | 3.90 | 3.39 | 5.18 |
| Cash Ratio | 0.06 | 0.06 | 0.05 | 0.07 | 0.04 | 0.13 | 1.61 | 0.11 | 0.54 | 0.71 | 1.29 |
| Asset Turnover | — | 0.43 | 0.48 | 0.42 | 0.38 | 0.34 | 0.38 | 0.38 | 0.57 | 0.41 | 0.55 |
| Inventory Turnover | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Days Sales Outstanding | — | 96.62 | 82.63 | 97.19 | 89.29 | 91.64 | 86.73 | 112.76 | 90.79 | 103.56 | 69.10 |
Earnings, FCF, buyback, and dividend yields — total returns to shareholders
Full dividend history and growth charts are on the Dividend History page
| Metric | TTM | FY 2025 | FY 2024 | FY 2023 | FY 2022 | FY 2021 | FY 2020 | FY 2019 | FY 2018 | FY 2017 | FY 2016 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dividend Yield | — | — | — | 7.1% | 4.2% | 2.6% | 1.3% | 1.3% | 1.3% | — | — |
| Payout Ratio | — | — | — | — | 24.5% | — | 6.2% | — | 80.4% | — | — |
| Metric | TTM | FY 2025 | FY 2024 | FY 2023 | FY 2022 | FY 2021 | FY 2020 | FY 2019 | FY 2018 | FY 2017 | FY 2016 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Earnings Yield | — | — | 45.7% | — | 12.3% | 3.8% | 6.6% | — | 1.6% | — | 4.1% |
| FCF Yield | 1.8% | 1.9% | 157.9% | 7.7% | 23.1% | 10.3% | 18.4% | — | 6.2% | 1.0% | 7.3% |
| Buyback Yield | 0.0% | 0.0% | 1.0% | 0.0% | 0.8% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 2.5% | 1.4% | 2.7% |
| Total Shareholder Yield | 0.0% | 0.0% | 1.0% | 7.1% | 4.9% | 2.6% | 1.3% | 1.3% | 3.8% | 1.4% | 2.7% |
| Shares Outstanding | — | $88M | $86M | $84M | $87M | $88M | $82M | $81M | $82M | $82M | $84M |
High leverage and cyclicality
According to current market data, SSP trades at a P/S ratio of 0.16 and a forward EV/EBITDA of 16.50, suggesting that investors are heavily discounting the firm's future earnings potential relative to its historical averages and the broader broadcasting peer group's valuation multiples.
The negative TTM P/E ratio underscores the market's skepticism regarding the company's near-term path to profitability, effectively pricing the equity as a distressed turnaround play. This valuation gap compared to peers like Nexstar suggests that the market is assigning a significant risk premium to Scripps' specific debt-heavy capital structure and its reliance on the volatile over-the-air advertising model.
Based on reported financial statements, ROIC has struggled to maintain positive momentum, fluctuating between -3.5% and 1.4% over the last ten quarters, which indicates that the company is failing to generate adequate returns on its invested capital base during non-election periods.
The persistent inability to achieve a consistent positive ROIC suggests that the capital deployed for the ION acquisition and ongoing station operations is not currently creating economic value. Investors should monitor whether the company can improve its operational efficiency to drive returns above its cost of capital, as current trends point toward a decay in capital productivity.
As reported in recent quarterly filings, the company's DSO has remained elevated, averaging approximately 90 days over the last ten quarters, which highlights the structural challenges in converting advertising revenue into cash within the highly cyclical US broadcasting industry environment.
The lack of meaningful improvement in the cash conversion cycle suggests that Scripps lacks significant leverage over its advertising clients, forcing it to carry substantial receivables. This inefficiency exacerbates the firm's liquidity constraints, particularly during the off-cycle years when political advertising revenue is absent.
According to recent SEC filings, the company maintains a debt-to-equity ratio consistently above 2.0, with interest coverage ratios frequently falling below 1.0, indicating that the firm's ability to service its debt obligations is becoming increasingly precarious in the current interest rate environment.
The high leverage profile, combined with the volatility of broadcast revenue, leaves the company with minimal margin for error during cyclical downturns. The persistent reliance on debt to fund operations warrants further investigation into potential refinancing risks, as the current interest coverage suggests that operating income is insufficient to comfortably meet debt service requirements.
The P/E ratio is frequently misapplied to SSP, as reported in financial statements, because it fails to account for the massive non-cash impairment charges and the biennial political advertising cycle that distort net income, rendering the metric largely meaningless for assessing the firm's true earning power.
Analysts should instead focus on EV/EBITDA or Free Cash Flow to Equity, which better capture the cash-generative nature of the broadcast assets before accounting for non-cash accounting distortions. Relying on P/E in this context obscures the underlying operational health of the station portfolio and leads to an inaccurate assessment of the company's valuation.
Includes 30+ ratios · 30 years · Updated daily
DCF models, multiple analysis, and analyst estimates.
10-year return with dividends reinvested.
See how regular investing compounds over time.
Compare growth, multiples, and margins vs sector.
Quick answers to the most common questions about buying SSP stock.
The E.W. Scripps Company's current P/E ratio is -1.7x. The historical average is 28.4x.
The E.W. Scripps Company's current EV/EBITDA is 269.6x. This enterprise value multiple compares the company's total value (equity + debt - cash) to its EBITDA. The historical average is 14.0x.
The E.W. Scripps Company's return on equity (ROE) is -7.9%. The historical average is 3.2%.
Based on historical data, The E.W. Scripps Company is trading at a P/E of -1.7x. Compare with industry peers and growth rates for a complete picture.
The E.W. Scripps Company has 33.7% gross margin and 7.5% operating margin.
The E.W. Scripps Company's Debt/EBITDA ratio is 239.5x, indicating high leverage. A ratio above 4x may signal elevated financial risk.