Scholastic Corporation $SCHL Stock Position Reduced by VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al cut its stake in shares of Scholastic Corporation (NASDAQ:SCHL) by 63.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,647 shares of the company’s stock after selling 13,250 shares during the period. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al’s holdings in Scholastic were worth $227,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bailard Inc. acquired a new stake in Scholastic in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $290,000. Horizon Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Scholastic in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $650,000. Salzhauer Michael acquired a new stake in Scholastic in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $524,000. UBS Group AG lifted its stake in Scholastic by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 111,820 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,313,000 after acquiring an additional 6,793 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quent Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Scholastic in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $258,000. 82.57% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on SCHL. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Scholastic from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 25th. B. Riley Financial lifted their target price on shares of Scholastic from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Scholastic from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Scholastic from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $40.00.

Scholastic Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of Scholastic stock opened at $39.96 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $38.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $33.85. Scholastic Corporation has a 1-year low of $16.78 and a 1-year high of $43.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $868.81 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.11 and a beta of 1.04.

Scholastic (NASDAQ:SCHL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 19th. The company reported ($0.15) earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $329.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $331.53 million. As a group, research analysts predict that Scholastic Corporation will post 1.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Scholastic declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Friday, March 20th that authorizes the company to buyback $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 23% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is 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 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 payout ratio is 32.26%.

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.