Emmis shares again escape NASDAQ delisting

Emmis Communications Corp. once again has avoided having its stock delisted from the NASDAQ exchange after the media company's shares closed above $1 for 10 consecutive trading days.

NASDAQ informed Indianapolis-based Emmis on Tuesday that the company is back in compliance with the stock index’s trading requirements.

NASDAQ late last month granted the company an extension until Aug. 27 to meet the $1-per-share requirement after Emmis appealed a planned delisting of the stock.
 
Emmis applied for the extension after it received written notice from NASDAQ on Feb. 28 that it was not in compliance with listing rules. At the time, company shares were trading at 70 cents per share and hadn't reached $1 in more than six months.

NASDAQ served notice to Emmis last Aug. 31 that its stock had closed below the exchange’s minimum $1-per-share requirement for 30 straight business days.  

Emmis has been on the edge of losing its NASDAQ status for several years. The company was previously warned about possible delistings in November 2010 and in October 2009, but its stock rebounded both times to escape danger.

Without NASDAQ, Emmis shares would be relegated to penny-stock status on the over-the-counter bulletin board or the pink sheets. Once that happens, shares are harder for investors to buy and sell.

Company shares opened Wednesday morning priced at $1.38 each.

The stock surged above $1 in late April after the company reached a radio station deal and related financing agreement that will bring the company $92.5 million in capital it plans to use to pay down debt.

Several Emmis officers have purchased company stock recently, including Gregory Loewen, chief strategy officer and president of its publishing division, who bought 72,011 shares priced at $1.35 each. Patrick Walsh, chief financial officer, bought 50,255 shares priced at $1.30 each and Richard Cummings, president of Emmis Radio Programming, nabbed 35,000 shares priced at $1.35 each.