Lee Enterprises (NYSE:LEE) Earns Buy Rating from Analysts at StockNews.com

StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Lee Enterprises (NYSE:LEE) in a research report issued on Sunday. The brokerage set a “buy” rating on the stock.

Lee Enterprises Price Performance

Shares of NYSE LEE opened at $8.83 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $54.24 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.39 and a beta of 1.21. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $8.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $10.98. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 69.34. Lee Enterprises has a twelve month low of $7.56 and a twelve month high of $15.89.

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

Institutional Trading of Lee Enterprises

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LEE. Gabelli Funds LLC boosted its stake in Lee Enterprises by 25.0% during the fourth quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 57,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $453,000 after buying an additional 11,500 shares in the last quarter. Corsair Capital Management L.P. purchased a new position in Lee Enterprises in the fourth quarter valued at about $128,000. Finally, Gamco Investors INC. ET AL lifted its holdings in shares of Lee Enterprises by 94.8% during the 1st quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 149,150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,988,000 after buying an additional 72,600 shares during the last quarter. 39.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.