E.W. Scripps price target raised to $8 from $7 at Benchmark

Benchmark analyst Daniel Kurnos raised the firm’s price target on E.W. Scripps (SSP) to $8 from $7 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares. Shares rallied nearly 45% on the day yesterday as “a much-better-than-feared” refinancing was announced the evening before the earnings call, the analyst tells investors. The firm does not, however, think that the refi alone explains the stock action and it suspects the additional rally was driven by hopes of further deregulation by the FCC, the analyst added. While the firm argues it is somewhat difficult to see the Scripps family as an outright seller, it thinks “everything from swaps to mergers to, yes, an outright sale is on the table to unlock value, and at $2 per share, Scripps may have more juice than most.”