Scholastic (NASDAQ:SCHL) Sets New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Scholastic Corporation (NASDAQ:SCHL) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $35.41 and last traded at $35.2020, with a volume of 244258 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $34.90.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on SCHL shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Scholastic in a report on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research raised shares of Scholastic from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $37.00.

Scholastic Trading Down 1.6%

The stock has a market cap of $889.64 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -174.85 and a beta of 1.17. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $30.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $28.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.67.

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

Scholastic Dividend Announcement

The business 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 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 30th. Scholastic’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -400.00%.

Institutional Trading of Scholastic

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Scholastic by 160.5% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 157,436 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,972,000 after acquiring an additional 96,998 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its stake in Scholastic by 4.8% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 13,851 shares of the company’s stock worth $262,000 after buying an additional 630 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in Scholastic by 4.2% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 164,178 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,100,000 after buying an additional 6,628 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its holdings in Scholastic by 457.8% during the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 81,390 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,537,000 after acquiring an additional 66,798 shares during the period. Finally, Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in shares of Scholastic by 819.5% in the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,223 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,090 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.57% of the company’s stock.

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.