Scholastic (NASDAQ:SCHL) Reaches New 52-Week High – Here’s What Happened

Scholastic Corporation (NASDAQ:SCHL) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $35.19 and last traded at $35.2450, with a volume of 180937 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $34.44.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Scholastic Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $30.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $27.48. The stock has a market cap of $894.72 million, a PE ratio of -175.85 and a beta of 1.17.

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

Scholastic Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Friday, January 30th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 30th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Scholastic’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -400.00%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Scholastic

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SCHL. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in Scholastic in the 2nd quarter worth about $378,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Scholastic by 13.6% in the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 20,259 shares of the company’s stock worth $425,000 after acquiring an additional 2,423 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Scholastic by 44.9% during the second quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 78,462 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,646,000 after acquiring an additional 24,320 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC increased its position in shares of Scholastic by 819.5% during the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,223 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 1,090 shares during the period. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Scholastic by 286.6% in the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 184,666 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,873,000 after purchasing an additional 136,903 shares during the period. 82.57% of the stock is owned by 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.