Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Purchases New Position in Scholastic Corporation $SCHL

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new position in shares of Scholastic Corporation (NASDAQ:SCHL) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 22,817 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,050,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio owned approximately 0.12% of Scholastic at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Scholastic during the second quarter worth $120,724,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Scholastic by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,593,981 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,230,000 after acquiring an additional 59,017 shares in 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 acquiring 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 acquiring an additional 31,427 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bragg Financial Advisors Inc increased its holdings in Scholastic by 13.0% in 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.57% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Scholastic

In related news, Director Andres A. Alonso sold 2,112 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.28, for a total value of $85,071.36. Following the transaction, the director owned 21,189 shares in the company, valued at $853,492.92. The trade was a 9.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Iole Lucchese sold 289,624 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.76, for a total transaction of $11,515,450.24. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 289,623 shares in the company, valued at $11,515,410.48. This trade represents a 50.00% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 294,986 shares of company stock worth $11,731,334 over the last three months. 12.77% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Scholastic Trading Up 1.8%

NASDAQ SCHL opened at $36.30 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $684.62 million, a PE ratio of 15.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.01. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $42.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $40.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. Scholastic Corporation has a 12 month low of $22.68 and a 12 month high of $48.07.

Scholastic (NASDAQ:SCHL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $2.19 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.03. Scholastic had a return on equity of 5.29% and a net margin of 3.58%.The business had revenue of $476.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $517.06 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.59 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Scholastic Corporation will post 1.6 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on SCHL. B. Riley Financial lifted their price target on Scholastic from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Scholastic from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Scholastic from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $42.00.

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.