StockNews.com Initiates Coverage on Lee Enterprises (NYSE:LEE)

Equities researchers at StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Lee Enterprises (NYSE:LEE) in a report released on Saturday. The firm set a “buy” rating on the stock.

Lee Enterprises Price Performance

Shares of LEE opened at $8.78 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $8.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $11.08. The stock has a market cap of $53.94 million, a PE ratio of -4.37 and a beta of 1.22. Lee Enterprises has a 1-year low of $7.56 and a 1-year high of $15.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.34, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.87.

Lee Enterprises (NYSE:LEE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported ($0.73) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by ($1.41). The firm had revenue of $150.58 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $165.48 million. Lee Enterprises had a negative return on equity of 112.98% and a negative net margin of 2.88%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.25 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Lee Enterprises will post -2.02 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wittenberg Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Lee Enterprises by 8.2% during the 4th quarter. Wittenberg Investment Management Inc. now owns 122,195 shares of the company’s stock worth $962,000 after purchasing an additional 9,215 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC increased its stake in shares of Lee Enterprises by 25.0% during the fourth quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 57,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $453,000 after buying an additional 11,500 shares during the period. Corsair Capital Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Lee Enterprises in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $128,000. Finally, Gamco Investors INC. ET AL lifted its stake in Lee Enterprises by 94.8% in the first quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 149,150 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,988,000 after acquiring an additional 72,600 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 39.20% of the company’s stock.

About Lee Enterprises

Lee Enterprises, Incorporated provides local news and information, and advertising services in the United States. The company offers digital subscription platforms; daily, weekly, and monthly newspapers and niche publications; and web hosting and content management services. It also provides advertising and marketing services, such as audience extension, search engine optimization, search engine marketing, web and mobile production, social media services, and reputation monitoring and management.