Scholastic (NASDAQ:SCHL) Sets New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

Scholastic Corporation (NASDAQ:SCHL)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $31.98 and last traded at $31.9540, with a volume of 257537 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $30.40.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Zacks Research lowered shares of Scholastic from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, December 8th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Scholastic in a research note on Monday, December 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Scholastic has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $37.00.

Scholastic Stock Performance

The company has a fifty day moving average of $28.79 and a two-hundred day moving average of $26.49. The company has a market cap of $810.01 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -159.20 and a beta of 1.17. 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 announced its earnings results on Thursday, December 18th. The company reported $2.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.07 by $0.10. Scholastic had a positive return on equity of 2.66% and a negative net margin of 0.21%.The business had revenue of $551.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $556.72 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.82 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Scholastic Corporation will post 0.84 EPS for the current year.

Scholastic Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 30th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 30th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. Scholastic’s payout ratio is -400.00%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SCHL. Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in Scholastic by 819.5% during the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,223 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 1,090 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its position in shares of Scholastic by 458.1% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,159 shares of the company’s stock worth $66,000 after acquiring an additional 2,593 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Scholastic by 63.1% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,540 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,000 after acquiring an additional 983 shares during the last quarter. State of Wyoming bought a new position in Scholastic in the 3rd quarter valued at about $137,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in Scholastic by 127.4% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 5,197 shares of the company’s stock valued at $142,000 after acquiring an additional 2,912 shares in the last quarter. 82.57% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.