Scholastic (NASDAQ:SCHL) Lowered to Strong Sell Rating by Zacks Research

Zacks Research lowered shares of Scholastic (NASDAQ:SCHL) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a research note released on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on SCHL. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Scholastic in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. B. Riley started coverage on shares of Scholastic in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $37.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Scholastic from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $37.00.

Scholastic Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ SCHL opened at $27.57 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The firm has a market cap of $693.11 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -41.77 and a beta of 1.18. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $28.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $25.03. Scholastic has a one year low of $15.77 and a one year high of $31.86.

Scholastic (NASDAQ:SCHL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, September 18th. The company reported ($2.52) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($2.44) by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $225.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $240.41 million. Scholastic had a positive return on equity of 1.10% and a negative net margin of 0.65%.During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($2.13) EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Scholastic will post 0.84 EPS for the current year.

Scholastic Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 31st. Scholastic’s dividend payout ratio is -121.21%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ananym Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Scholastic during the first quarter worth $23,600,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,040,880 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 44,558 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Scholastic by 12.3% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 637,928 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,044,000 after buying an additional 69,722 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake in Scholastic by 245,664.0% in the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 518,562 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,790,000 after buying an additional 518,351 shares in the last quarter. 82.57% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Scholastic

Scholastic Corporation publishes and distributes children’s books worldwide. It operates in three segments: Children’s Book Publishing and Distribution, Education Solutions, and International. The Children’s Book Publishing and Distribution segment engages in publication and distribution of children’s print, digital, and audio books, as well as media and interactive products through its school reading events and trade channel; and operation of school-based book clubs and book fairs in the United States.