Scholastic (NASDAQ:SCHL) Issues Earnings Results

Scholastic (NASDAQ:SCHL) announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The company reported $2.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.03, FiscalAI reports. Scholastic had a return on equity of 2.47% and a net margin of 3.88%.The business had revenue of $476.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $517.06 million.

Scholastic Trading Up 0.2%

NASDAQ SCHL traded up $0.08 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $46.44. 463,760 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 460,590. Scholastic has a 52 week low of $21.34 and a 52 week high of $48.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.99. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $43.58 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $38.77.

Scholastic Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 31st will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. This is a positive change from Scholastic’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 31st. Scholastic’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.26%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Scholastic

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its holdings in Scholastic by 879.3% during the third quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,159,261 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,741,000 after purchasing an additional 1,040,880 shares during the period. J. Goldman & Co LP raised its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 31,427 shares during the period. Bragg Financial Advisors Inc lifted its position in shares of Scholastic by 13.0% during the 4th quarter. Bragg Financial Advisors Inc now owns 668,904 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,820,000 after buying an additional 76,801 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Scholastic by 57.2% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 424,973 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,592,000 after acquiring an additional 154,668 shares during the period. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Scholastic during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $7,288,000. 82.57% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on SCHL shares. Zacks Research cut shares of Scholastic from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Scholastic from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, April 25th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Scholastic in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, B. Riley Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Scholastic from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $42.00.

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.