Scholastic (NASDAQ:SCHL) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.21 EPS

Scholastic (NASDAQ:SCHL) released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The company reported ($3.63) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($3.42) by ($0.21), FiscalAI reports. The firm had revenue of $216.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $224.69 million. Scholastic had a return on equity of 5.29% and a net margin of 3.58%.

Scholastic Price Performance

Shares of SCHL stock traded down $0.53 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $34.83. The company had a trading volume of 683,693 shares, compared to its average volume of 441,442. Scholastic has a 12-month low of $25.91 and a 12-month high of $48.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 1.23. The company has a market capitalization of $656.89 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.88, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.01. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $39.94 and a 200-day moving average of $40.46.

Scholastic Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 is Friday, October 30th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. Scholastic’s payout ratio is presently 42.74%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Andres A. Alonso sold 2,112 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.28, for a total value of $85,071.36. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 21,189 shares in the company, valued at approximately $853,492.92. This represents a 9.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kaya Henderson sold 3,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.25, for a total value of $130,812.50. Following the transaction, the director owned 7,113 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $286,298.25. This represents a 31.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 294,986 shares of company stock valued at $11,731,334 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 12.77% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on SCHL shares. B. Riley Financial lifted their target price on Scholastic from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Zacks Research raised shares of Scholastic from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Scholastic from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, September 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Scholastic has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $42.00.

About Scholastic

Scholastic Corporation is a global children’s publishing, education and media company. Founded in 1920 by M. R. Robinson, the company develops and distributes books, classroom materials, digital learning resources and educational media for children, families, teachers and schools.

Its publishing portfolio includes original and licensed children’s books, series and educational titles, while its education business provides classroom magazines, supplemental curriculum materials, professional learning resources and digital platforms.