Scholastic (NASDAQ:SCHL) Trading 4.9% Higher – Here’s Why

Scholastic Corporation (NASDAQ:SCHL) shot up 4.9% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $29.03 and last traded at $28.94. 140,968 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 57% from the average session volume of 327,440 shares. The stock had previously closed at $27.60.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on SCHL. Zacks Research lowered shares of Scholastic from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, December 8th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Scholastic from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Scholastic in a research report on Monday. Finally, B. Riley began coverage on shares of Scholastic in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $37.00 price target on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Scholastic currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $37.00.

Scholastic Stock Up 0.7%

The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $28.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $25.83. The stock has a market cap of $730.57 million, a P/E ratio of -145.30 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 1.67.

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

Scholastic Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 30th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 30th. Scholastic’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -400.00%.

Institutional Trading of Scholastic

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Verition Fund Management LLC bought a new position in Scholastic during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $7,288,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Scholastic by 879.3% during the third quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,159,261 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,741,000 after acquiring an additional 1,040,880 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning lifted its stake in Scholastic by 33.6% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 31,954 shares of the company’s stock worth $875,000 after acquiring an additional 8,037 shares during the period. Shay Capital LLC bought a new stake in Scholastic in the third quarter valued at $620,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group increased its position in Scholastic by 531.3% during the 3rd quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 25,826 shares of the company’s stock valued at $707,000 after purchasing an additional 21,735 shares during the period. 82.57% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.