Hennessy Advisors Inc. Sells 20,200 Shares of Scholastic Corporation $SCHL

Hennessy Advisors Inc. decreased its position in shares of Scholastic Corporation (NASDAQ:SCHL) by 8.9% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 206,800 shares of the company’s stock after selling 20,200 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Scholastic were worth $7,271,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al increased its stake in Scholastic by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al now owns 30,947 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,088,000 after purchasing an additional 1,100 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in shares of Scholastic by 51.1% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 3,590 shares of the company’s stock valued at $126,000 after purchasing an additional 1,214 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Scholastic by 25.9% in the third quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 18,276 shares of the company’s stock worth $643,000 after purchasing an additional 3,761 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Scholastic by 25.0% in the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 23,880 shares of the company’s stock worth $840,000 after purchasing an additional 4,769 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new position in shares of Scholastic in the second quarter worth approximately $56,000. 82.57% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Scholastic

In other Scholastic news, Director Kaya Henderson sold 3,250 shares of Scholastic stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.25, for a total transaction of $130,812.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 7,113 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $286,298.25. The trade was a 31.36% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Iole Lucchese sold 289,624 shares of Scholastic stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.76, for a total transaction of $11,515,450.24. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 289,623 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,515,410.48. The trade was a 50.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 294,986 shares of company stock valued at $11,731,334 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 12.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on SCHL. B. Riley Financial dropped their target price on shares of Scholastic from $42.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 28th. Wall Street Zen raised Scholastic from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, October 18th. Zacks Research upgraded Scholastic from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Scholastic from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Monday, September 28th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $35.00.

Scholastic Stock Performance

NASDAQ:SCHL opened at $39.30 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $741.32 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.07, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.08. Scholastic Corporation has a 1 year low of $26.38 and a 1 year high of $48.07. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $37.34 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $38.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 0.71.

Scholastic (NASDAQ:SCHL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 24th. The company reported ($3.63) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($3.42) by ($0.21). Scholastic had a return on equity of 5.00% and a net margin of 3.60%. The firm had revenue of $216.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $224.69 million. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Scholastic Corporation will post 1.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Scholastic Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 15th. Investors of record on Friday, October 30th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 30th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. Scholastic’s dividend payout ratio is presently 71.43%.

Scholastic Company Profile

Scholastic Corporation (NASDAQ:SCHL) is a global children’s publishing, education and media company. It develops and distributes books, digital content, classroom magazines, educational technology and other learning materials for children, educators and families.

The company publishes fiction and nonfiction for children and young adults through trade imprints and recognizable series and brands, including Harry Potter, Clifford the Big Red Dog, Goosebumps, Captain Underpants and The Hunger Games.