Scholastic (NASDAQ:SCHL) Sets New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

Scholastic Corporation (NASDAQ:SCHL) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $35.19 and last traded at $35.2450, with a volume of 180937 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $34.44.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on SCHL. Zacks Research upgraded Scholastic from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Scholastic in a research note on Monday, December 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $37.00.

Scholastic Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $883.60 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -173.65 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.24. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $30.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $27.63.

Scholastic (NASDAQ:SCHL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 18th. The company reported $2.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.07 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $551.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $556.72 million. Scholastic had a positive return on equity of 2.66% and a negative net margin of 0.21%.During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.82 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Scholastic Corporation will post 0.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Scholastic Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 30th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 30th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Scholastic’s dividend payout ratio is currently -400.00%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Scholastic

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in shares of Scholastic by 819.5% in the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,223 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,090 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 983 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its position in Scholastic by 458.1% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,159 shares of the company’s stock valued at $66,000 after buying an additional 2,593 shares during the last quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Scholastic in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $116,000. Finally, State of Wyoming bought a new stake in Scholastic in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $137,000. 82.57% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.