Scholastic (NASDAQ:SCHL) Trading Up 2.7% – Here’s What Happened

Scholastic Corporation (NASDAQ:SCHL) rose 2.7% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $30.47 and last traded at $30.2120. Approximately 110,612 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 66% from the average daily volume of 329,241 shares. The stock had previously closed at $29.42.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on SCHL shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded Scholastic from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Scholastic in a report on Monday, December 22nd. B. Riley initiated coverage on Scholastic in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $37.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Scholastic from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, December 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Scholastic has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $37.00.

Scholastic Trading Up 3.6%

The company has a market cap of $775.16 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -152.35 and a beta of 1.18. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $28.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $26.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.24.

Scholastic (NASDAQ:SCHL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, December 18th. The company reported $2.17 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.07 by $0.10. Scholastic had a positive return on equity of 2.66% and a negative net margin of 0.21%.The firm had revenue of $551.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $556.72 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.82 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Scholastic Corporation will post 0.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Scholastic Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Friday, January 30th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 30th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. Scholastic’s payout ratio is presently -400.00%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Ananym Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Scholastic in the first quarter valued at approximately $23,600,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its stake in shares of Scholastic by 879.3% in the 3rd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,159,261 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,741,000 after acquiring an additional 1,040,880 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Scholastic by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 739,366 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,244,000 after acquiring an additional 44,558 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its position in shares of Scholastic by 245,664.0% during the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 518,562 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,790,000 after acquiring an additional 518,351 shares during the period. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its stake in Scholastic by 39.6% during the first quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 444,779 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,397,000 after acquiring an additional 126,260 shares in the last quarter. 82.57% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Scholastic

Scholastic Corporation (NASDAQ: SCHL) is a global company dedicated to children’s publishing, education technology and distribution services. The company’s core business encompasses three primary segments: Children’s Book Publishing and Distribution, Education Technology, and International operations. Through its publishing arm, Scholastic produces and distributes a wide range of children’s books, novels, nonfiction titles and classroom magazines under well-known imprints such as Scholastic Press, Graphix and Chicken House.