Scholastic (NASDAQ:SCHL) Shares Pass Above 200 Day Moving Average – What’s Next?

Scholastic Corporation (NASDAQ:SCHL)’s share price passed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $31.03 and traded as high as $39.14. Scholastic shares last traded at $38.83, with a volume of 431,849 shares.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on SCHL shares. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Scholastic from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. B. Riley Financial raised their price objective on shares of Scholastic from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Scholastic from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Scholastic from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, Scholastic presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $40.00.

Scholastic Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $842.86 million, a PE ratio of 15.63 and a beta of 1.08. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $35.01 and a 200 day moving average of $31.17.

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

Scholastic Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 30th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 30th. Scholastic’s payout ratio is currently 32.26%.

Scholastic announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Friday, March 20th that permits the company to repurchase $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 23% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Scholastic

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its position 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 valued at $31,741,000 after buying an additional 1,040,880 shares in the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC purchased a new position in Scholastic in the third quarter worth about $7,288,000. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC purchased a new position in Scholastic in the fourth quarter worth about $7,070,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Scholastic by 57.2% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 424,973 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,592,000 after acquiring an additional 154,668 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in Scholastic by 160.5% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 157,436 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,972,000 after purchasing an additional 96,998 shares during the period. 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.