JGP Global Gestao de Recursos Ltda. Takes Position in Scholastic Corporation $SCHL

JGP Global Gestao de Recursos Ltda. purchased a new stake in Scholastic Corporation (NASDAQ:SCHL) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 35,245 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,044,000. Scholastic makes up 0.6% of JGP Global Gestao de Recursos Ltda.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Scholastic by 63.1% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,540 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 983 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its position in shares of Scholastic by 458.1% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,159 shares of the company’s stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 2,593 shares in the last quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Scholastic in the fourth quarter valued at $116,000. State of Wyoming purchased a new position in shares of Scholastic in the third quarter valued at $137,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in shares of Scholastic by 127.4% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 5,197 shares of the company’s stock valued at $142,000 after purchasing an additional 2,912 shares in the last quarter. 82.57% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Scholastic Stock Up 0.6%

Scholastic stock opened at $39.76 on Friday. Scholastic Corporation has a 52 week low of $15.82 and a 52 week high of $40.15. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $36.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $32.12. The stock has a market cap of $864.46 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.03 and a beta of 1.08.

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

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

Scholastic Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.