Lee Enterprises, Incorporated

NasdaqGS:LEE Stock Report

Market Cap: US$181.2m

Lee Enterprises Management

Management criteria checks 2/4

Lee Enterprises' CEO is Nathan Bekke, appointed in Feb 2026, has a tenure of less than a year. total yearly compensation is $694.02K, comprised of 79.8% salary and 20.2% bonuses, including company stock and options. directly owns 0.16% of the company’s shares, worth $292.89K. The average tenure of the management team and the board of directors is 1.3 years and 4 years respectively.

Key information

Nathan Bekke

Chief executive officer

US$694.0k

Total compensation

CEO salary percentage79.80%
CEO tenureless than a year
CEO ownership0.2%
Management average tenure1.3yrs
Board average tenure4yrs

Recent management updates

Recent updates

User avatar
New Narrative Apr 09

AI Solutions Will Reshape Digital Media As Legacy Risks Persist

Significant investment in AI-driven technologies aims to boost digital content engagement, advertising revenue, and future digital revenue growth.
Analysis Article Jan 20

Lee Enterprises, Incorporated's (NASDAQ:LEE) Revenues Are Not Doing Enough For Some Investors

You may think that with a price-to-sales (or "P/S") ratio of 0.1x Lee Enterprises, Incorporated ( NASDAQ:LEE ) is a...
Seeking Alpha Dec 02

Lee Enterprises: External Interest Ramps Up Ahead Of Q4 Earnings

Summary LEE which has underperformed other micro-caps for a long time now, has been witnessing positive interest since October, driven largely by constructive institutional positioning. The Hoffmann Group, which is keen to save and promote local and community-driven newspapers, has filed and amended a 13D. LEE is due to announce Q4 earnings on the December 12, and expectations appear to be on the higher side. We have deep concerns about the company's debt burden, which won't be easy to overcome with just non-core asset sales, while forward valuations reflect a weak EBITDA outlook. On the charts, LEE appears to have got its mojo back. Read the full article on Seeking Alpha
Analysis Article Nov 26

Lee Enterprises (NASDAQ:LEE) Has No Shortage Of Debt

Warren Buffett famously said, 'Volatility is far from synonymous with risk.' So it seems the smart money knows that...
Analysis Article Oct 10

Lee Enterprises, Incorporated (NASDAQ:LEE) Shares Fly 82% But Investors Aren't Buying For Growth

Lee Enterprises, Incorporated ( NASDAQ:LEE ) shareholders would be excited to see that the share price has had a great...
Analysis Article Jul 03

Benign Growth For Lee Enterprises, Incorporated (NASDAQ:LEE) Underpins Its Share Price

Lee Enterprises, Incorporated's ( NASDAQ:LEE ) price-to-sales (or "P/S") ratio of 0.1x might make it look like a buy...
Analysis Article Mar 22

Lee Enterprises (NASDAQ:LEE) Use Of Debt Could Be Considered Risky

The external fund manager backed by Berkshire Hathaway's Charlie Munger, Li Lu, makes no bones about it when he says...
Analysis Article Feb 16

We Think Shareholders May Want To Consider A Review Of Lee Enterprises, Incorporated's (NASDAQ:LEE) CEO Compensation Package

Key Insights Lee Enterprises will host its Annual General Meeting on 22nd of February Salary of US$813.5k is part of...
Analysis Article Jan 26

Lee Enterprises, Incorporated's (NASDAQ:LEE) Price Is Right But Growth Is Lacking After Shares Rocket 43%

Lee Enterprises, Incorporated ( NASDAQ:LEE ) shareholders would be excited to see that the share price has had a great...
Analysis Article Nov 30

Is Lee Enterprises (NASDAQ:LEE) Using Too Much Debt?

David Iben put it well when he said, 'Volatility is not a risk we care about. What we care about is avoiding the...
Seeking Alpha Dec 18

Extra! Extra! Buffett-Backed LEE Is On A Run

Lee Enterprises is in the midst of a turnaround, as its digital subscription business is growing quickly while its print business is slowing down. The company is trading at a pretty inexpensive valuation, especially when we consider its growth potential in the coming years. Debt reduction efforts could create significant equity value in the long run.
Seeking Alpha Nov 26

My DCF Model Indicates That Lee Enterprises Is Worth More Than $24

Lee Enterprises is a local news provider in close to 77 markets across 26 states in the US. In my view, as management converts the company into a digital player, revenue would trend north to double digits. iIn the last five years, the free cash flow was close to $60-$78 million. With this in mind, I will assume a free cash flow of close to $77 million. With an exit multiple of 5.25x FCF, I obtained a fair price of $24, which is the amount of money that Alden Global Capital is proposing. I believe that the offer is too low because Lee has always traded at 11x-18x FCF. The company is also quite undervalued. Under moderate assumptions and an exit multiple of 12x, my DCF model implied a valuation that could be equal to even $87 per share.
Seeking Alpha Sep 20

Lee Enterprises: Substantial Upside On An Actually Good Business

Uncertainty around high debts and "newspapers in a digital world" create a deep value opportunity today for keen investors. This is a high free cash flow business with good business economics at a really great valuation. I figure this stock has at least a $40/share fair value.
Analysis Article Feb 22

Did Lee Enterprises' (NYSE:LEE) Share Price Deserve to Gain 74%?

If you buy and hold a stock for many years, you'd hope to be making a profit. Furthermore, you'd generally like to see...

CEO Compensation Analysis

How has Nathan Bekke's remuneration changed compared to Lee Enterprises's earnings?
DateTotal CompensationSalaryCompany Earnings
Dec 28 2025n/an/a

-US$26m

Sep 28 2025US$694kUS$554k

-US$38m

Jun 29 2025n/an/a

-US$41m

Mar 30 2025n/an/a

-US$44m

Dec 29 2024n/an/a

-US$43m

Sep 29 2024US$657kUS$578k

-US$26m

Jun 23 2024n/an/a

-US$18m

Mar 24 2024n/an/a

-US$12m

Dec 24 2023n/an/a

-US$6m

Sep 24 2023US$663kUS$461k

-US$5m

Jun 25 2023n/an/a

-US$10m

Mar 26 2023n/an/a

-US$12m

Dec 25 2022n/an/a

-US$14m

Sep 25 2022US$1mUS$501k

-US$2m

Jun 26 2022n/an/a

US$10m

Mar 27 2022n/an/a

US$13m

Dec 26 2021n/an/a

US$20m

Sep 26 2021US$692kUS$400k

US$23m

Jun 27 2021n/an/a

US$16m

Mar 28 2021n/an/a

US$12m

Dec 27 2020n/an/a

US$7m

Sep 27 2020n/an/a

-US$2m

Jun 28 2020n/an/a

-US$501k

Mar 29 2020n/an/a

US$7m

Dec 29 2019n/an/a

US$9m

Sep 29 2019US$574kUS$385k

US$14m

Compensation vs Market: Nathan's total compensation ($USD694.02K) is below average for companies of similar size in the US market ($USD1.59M).

Compensation vs Earnings: Nathan's compensation has increased whilst the company is unprofitable.


CEO

Nathan Bekke (56 yo)

less than a year
Tenure
US$694,024
Compensation

Mr. Nathan E. Bekke is Chief Operating officer of Lee Enterprises, Incorporated since June 2025 and serves as its President since February 5, 2026 and serves as its CEO since April 2026 and served as its I...


Leadership Team

NamePositionTenureCompensationOwnership
Nathan Bekke
CEO, President & COOless than a yearUS$694.02k0.16%
$ 292.9k
Timothy Millage
Consultantless than a yearUS$612.44k0.14%
$ 246.0k
Josh Rinehults
VP, CFO & Treasurerless than a yearno data0.0098%
$ 17.8k
Jared Marks
Vice President of Corporate Finance; Assistant Secretary and Assistant Treasurerno datano datano data
Virginia Fletcher
Chief Information Officerno datano datano data
Astrid Garcia
Vice President of Human Resources & Legal and Chief Legal Officer12.4yrsno data0.092%
$ 167.4k
Eric Mayberry
President of North Carolina Media Group & VP of Sales for Carolina Region5.3yrsno datano data
Joseph Battistoni
Chief Revenue Officerno datano data0.078%
$ 141.5k
Theodore Olt
Secretary & General Counsel2.4yrsno datano data
Nicole Henley-Cox
VP of Finance & Corporate Controllerno datano datano data
1.3yrs
Average Tenure
44yo
Average Age

Experienced Management: LEE's management team is not considered experienced ( 1.3 years average tenure), which suggests a new team.


Board Members

NamePositionTenureCompensationOwnership
Mary Junck
Independent Director27.3yrsUS$310.00k0.96%
$ 1.7m
Ronald Kruszewski
Independent Directorless than a yearno datano data
Herbert Moloney
Independent Lead Director25.3yrsUS$195.00k0.17%
$ 317.0k
David Hoffmann
Chairmanless than a yearno data53.47%
$ 96.9m
Steven Fletcher
Independent Director6.3yrsUS$175.00k0.15%
$ 274.9k
Shaun McAlmont
Independent Director4yrsUS$160.00k0.10%
$ 186.2k
Madeline McIntosh
Independent Director1.8yrsUS$160.00k0.055%
$ 100.1k
4.0yrs
Average Tenure
66yo
Average Age

Experienced Board: LEE's board of directors are considered experienced (4 years average tenure).


Company Analysis and Financial Data Status

DataLast Updated (UTC time)
Company Analysis2026/05/07 20:57
End of Day Share Price 2026/05/07 00:00
Earnings2025/12/28
Annual Earnings2025/09/28

Data Sources

The data used in our company analysis is from S&P Global Market Intelligence LLC. The following data is used in our analysis model to generate this report. Data is normalised which can introduce a delay from the source being available.

PackageDataTimeframeExample US Source *
Company Financials10 years
  • Income statement
  • Cash flow statement
  • Balance sheet
Analyst Consensus Estimates+3 years
  • Forecast financials
  • Analyst price targets
Market Prices30 years
  • Stock prices
  • Dividends, Splits and Actions
Ownership10 years
  • Top shareholders
  • Insider trading
Management10 years
  • Leadership team
  • Board of directors
Key Developments10 years
  • Company announcements

* Example for US securities, for non-US equivalent regulatory forms and sources are used.

Unless specified all financial data is based on a yearly period but updated quarterly. This is known as Trailing Twelve Month (TTM) or Last Twelve Month (LTM) Data. Learn more.

Analysis Model and Snowflake

Details of the analysis model used to generate this report is available on our Github page, we also have guides on how to use our reports and tutorials on Youtube.

Learn about the world class team who designed and built the Simply Wall St analysis model.

Industry and Sector Metrics

Our industry and section metrics are calculated every 6 hours by Simply Wall St, details of our process are available on Github.

Analyst Sources

Lee Enterprises, Incorporated is covered by 1 analysts. 0 of those analysts submitted the estimates of revenue or earnings used as inputs to our report. Analysts submissions are updated throughout the day.

AnalystInstitution
Daniel HarrimanSidoti & Company, LLC