Scholastic (NASDAQ:SCHL) Lowered to “Hold” Rating by Zacks Research

Zacks Research lowered shares of Scholastic (NASDAQ:SCHL) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Tuesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

SCHL has been the subject of a number of other reports. B. Riley Financial boosted their price target on shares of Scholastic from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Scholastic from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 25th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Scholastic from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $40.00.

Scholastic Price Performance

SCHL opened at $39.24 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $38.60 and a 200-day moving average price of $33.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $853.08 million, a P/E ratio of 15.82 and a beta of 1.04. Scholastic has a one year low of $16.78 and a one year high of $43.39.

Scholastic (NASDAQ:SCHL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 19th. The company reported ($0.15) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.37) by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $329.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $331.53 million. Scholastic had a net margin of 3.88% and a return on equity of 2.47%. On average, analysts expect that Scholastic will post 1.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Scholastic declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Friday, March 20th that authorizes the company to repurchase $200.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 23% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Scholastic Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 30th will be given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 30th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. Scholastic’s payout ratio is 32.26%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Scholastic by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,593,981 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,230,000 after acquiring an additional 59,017 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its position in Scholastic by 879.3% in the third quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,159,261 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,741,000 after acquiring an additional 1,040,880 shares in the last quarter. J. Goldman & Co LP grew its position in Scholastic by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. J. Goldman & Co LP now owns 797,878 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,641,000 after acquiring an additional 31,427 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in Scholastic by 6.4% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 739,366 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,244,000 after acquiring an additional 44,558 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bragg Financial Advisors Inc grew its position in Scholastic by 13.0% in the fourth quarter. Bragg Financial Advisors Inc now owns 668,904 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,820,000 after acquiring an additional 76,801 shares in the last quarter. 82.57% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Scholastic Company Profile

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.