Scholastic (NASDAQ:SCHL) Stock Rating Lowered by Zacks Research

Scholastic (NASDAQ:SCHL) was downgraded by analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

Separately, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Scholastic from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Scholastic presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $37.00.

Scholastic Trading Up 1.7%

Shares of Scholastic stock traded up $0.59 during trading on Thursday, hitting $36.05. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 561,608 shares, compared to its average volume of 378,823. The stock has a market cap of $917.11 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -180.25 and a beta of 1.17. Scholastic has a 52 week low of $15.77 and a 52 week high of $36.24. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $33.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $29.82. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 18th. The company reported $2.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $551.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $556.72 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.82 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Scholastic will post 0.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Scholastic

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SCHL. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Scholastic by 160.5% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 157,436 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,972,000 after purchasing an additional 96,998 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Scholastic by 4.8% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 13,851 shares of the company’s stock worth $262,000 after purchasing an additional 630 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in shares of Scholastic by 4.2% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 164,178 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,100,000 after purchasing an additional 6,628 shares in the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC raised its position in shares of Scholastic by 457.8% in the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 81,390 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,537,000 after purchasing an additional 66,798 shares during the period. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its stake in shares of Scholastic by 28.4% during the 2nd quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 17,510 shares of the company’s stock valued at $367,000 after buying an additional 3,876 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.57% of the company’s stock.

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.