VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Sells 13,250 Shares of Scholastic Corporation $SCHL

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al lowered its stake in shares of Scholastic Corporation (NASDAQ:SCHL) by 63.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,647 shares of the company’s stock after selling 13,250 shares during the quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al’s holdings in Scholastic were worth $227,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of SCHL. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its holdings in Scholastic by 879.3% in the 3rd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,159,261 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,741,000 after buying an additional 1,040,880 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC bought a new stake in Scholastic in the 3rd quarter valued at $7,288,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Scholastic by 160.5% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 157,436 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,972,000 after buying an additional 96,998 shares during the period. EVR Research LP increased its holdings in Scholastic by 58.7% in the 3rd quarter. EVR Research LP now owns 190,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,202,000 after buying an additional 70,270 shares during the period. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its holdings in Scholastic by 21.5% in the 3rd quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 386,928 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,594,000 after buying an additional 68,562 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.57% of the company’s stock.

Scholastic Stock Performance

SCHL opened at $39.96 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $38.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $33.85. Scholastic Corporation has a twelve month low of $16.78 and a twelve month high of $43.39. The firm has a market cap of $868.81 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.11 and a beta of 1.04.

Scholastic (NASDAQ:SCHL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 19th. The company reported ($0.15) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.37) by $0.22. Scholastic had a net margin of 3.88% and a return on equity of 2.47%. The business had revenue of $329.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $331.53 million. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Scholastic Corporation will post 1.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Scholastic Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on SCHL shares. Zacks Research raised shares of Scholastic from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 3rd. B. Riley Financial upped their target price on shares of Scholastic from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Scholastic from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, April 25th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Scholastic from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Scholastic currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $40.00.

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.