Chairman David Hoffmann acquired over $2.8M in shares during a sustained 90-day buying campaign, while short interest fell 2% week-over-week and utilisation dropped to 6.3% — far below the 52-week peak of 94%.
LEE closed at $8.14 on April 24, down 2.7% on the day. The stock slipped 1.9% over the week and is essentially flat for the month, off 0.6%.
Short interest stands at 94,500 shares, representing 1.51% of the float. The metric declined 1.9% over the past week and 1.2% day-over-day. However, short interest remains elevated relative to late March. SI jumped 57% over the past month from the 60,000-share level that prevailed mid-March. The current reading sits near the recent high of 102,376 shares set March 30.
Cost to borrow is 4.10%, down 7.5% week-over-week. CTB has drifted lower from early April peaks near 4.9%. The current level is the lowest since late March.
Utilisation registered 6.3% as of April 23. That figure has halved since early April, when utilisation briefly touched 9.8% on April 3 and 11.8% on March 31. The 52-week high stands at 94%, a mark that has not been approached in recent months.
Days to cover is 3.14 based on the most recent FINRA fortnightly report settled April 15.
The mean price target is $20.00, last updated February 2025. No analyst breakdown or recent rating changes are available in the snapshot.
Enterprise value is $505M as of December 31, 2025. Lee Enterprises ranks in the 55th percentile for short score and 49th percentile for days to cover. Dividend score sits at the 33rd percentile. Sector score is at the 20th percentile.
David Hoffmann controls 11.89M shares, or 53.5% of the company, following a 11.89M-share increase reported March 13. Quint Digital Limited holds 3.24M shares (14.6%) after adding 2.45M shares by March 3. GAMCO Investors lifted its stake by 20,000 shares to 807,944 (3.6%) as of February 5. Cable Car Capital initiated a 300,000-share position (1.3%) by year-end 2025. Vanguard added 42,587 shares to reach 229,710 (1.0%) as of March 31.
Kevin Mowbray, an insider, trimmed his holding by 7,867 shares to 118,970 (0.5%) as of February 5. Wittenberg Investment Management cut 44,188 shares to 53,069 (0.2%) by year-end.
Insiders were net buyers of 306,458 shares worth $2.81M over the past 90 days. Chairman David Hoffmann executed a steady accumulation pattern throughout early March. He purchased 27,800 shares on March 13 at $9.35 for $259,930. He bought another 27,800 shares on March 12 at $9.40 for $261,320. The pattern repeated daily: 27,800 shares at $9.33 on March 11 for $259,374; 27,800 shares at $8.99 on March 10 for $249,922; 27,800 shares at $9.30 on March 9 for $258,540. Hoffmann also acquired 19,000 shares on March 6 at $9.19 for $174,610, 19,000 shares on March 5 at $9.26 for $175,940, and 19,000 shares on March 4 at $9.16 for $174,040.
An independent director sold 26,804 shares at $9.08 on March 6 for $243,380. Quint Digital bought 500 shares at $9.87 on March 3 for $4,935.
Lee Enterprises is scheduled to report earnings May 7, 2026 at 13:30 UTC. The ORTEX short score is 32.9, unchanged over the past week. The combined score is 32.7.
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