Scholastic (NASDAQ:SCHL) Reaches New 1-Year High – Here’s What Happened

Scholastic Corporation (NASDAQ:SCHL)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $39.75 and last traded at $39.44, with a volume of 64212 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $39.39.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Scholastic from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 3rd. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Scholastic from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. B. Riley Financial boosted their price target on shares of Scholastic from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Scholastic from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $40.00.

Scholastic Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $860.45 million, a P/E ratio of 15.95 and a beta of 1.08. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $35.46 and its 200 day moving average is $31.61.

Scholastic (NASDAQ:SCHL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 19th. The company reported ($0.15) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.37) by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $329.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $331.53 million. Scholastic had a net margin of 3.88% and a return on equity of 2.47%. As a group, analysts expect that Scholastic Corporation will post 0.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Scholastic Announces Dividend

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

Scholastic announced that its board has authorized a stock 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 buy up to 23% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Scholastic

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Scholastic by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,593,981 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,230,000 after purchasing an additional 59,017 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its position in Scholastic by 879.3% during the 3rd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,159,261 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,741,000 after purchasing an additional 1,040,880 shares during the last quarter. J. Goldman & Co LP grew its position in Scholastic by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. J. Goldman & Co LP now owns 797,878 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,641,000 after purchasing an additional 31,427 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in Scholastic by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 739,366 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,244,000 after purchasing an additional 44,558 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bragg Financial Advisors Inc grew its position in Scholastic by 13.0% during the 4th quarter. Bragg Financial Advisors Inc now owns 668,904 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,820,000 after purchasing an additional 76,801 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.