Scholastic (NASDAQ:SCHL) Reaches New 1-Year High – Here’s What Happened

Scholastic Corporation (NASDAQ:SCHL)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $39.75 and last traded at $39.44, with a volume of 64212 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $39.39.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on SCHL. B. Riley Financial boosted their target price on shares of Scholastic from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Scholastic from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, March 21st. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Scholastic from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Scholastic from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Scholastic has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $40.00.

Scholastic Price Performance

The stock’s fifty day moving average is $35.46 and its 200-day moving average is $31.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $860.45 million, a PE ratio of 15.95 and a beta of 1.08.

Scholastic (NASDAQ:SCHL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 19th. The company reported ($0.15) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.37) by $0.22. Scholastic had a net margin of 3.88% and a return on equity of 2.47%. The firm had revenue of $329.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $331.53 million. On average, analysts forecast that Scholastic Corporation will post 0.84 EPS for the current year.

Scholastic Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 30th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. Scholastic’s dividend payout ratio is 32.26%.

Scholastic announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Friday, March 20th that permits the company to buyback $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 23% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Scholastic

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its holdings in Scholastic by 458.1% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,159 shares of the company’s stock worth $66,000 after buying an additional 2,593 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Scholastic by 63.1% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,540 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,000 after acquiring an additional 983 shares during the period. Marquette Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Scholastic during the fourth quarter worth $116,000. State of Wyoming acquired a new position in Scholastic during the third quarter worth $137,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in Scholastic by 127.4% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 5,197 shares of the company’s stock worth $142,000 after acquiring an additional 2,912 shares during the period. 82.57% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.