Scholastic (NASDAQ:SCHL) Hits New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

Scholastic Corporation (NASDAQ:SCHL)’s share price 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 have recently commented on SCHL. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Scholastic in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research raised Scholastic from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $37.00.

Scholastic Trading Up 2.1%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $894.72 million, a PE ratio of -175.85 and a beta of 1.17. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $30.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $27.48.

Scholastic (NASDAQ:SCHL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 18th. The company reported $2.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $551.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $556.72 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.82 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Scholastic Corporation will post 0.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Scholastic Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 30th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 30th. Scholastic’s dividend payout ratio is currently -400.00%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Scholastic

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of SCHL. AQR Capital Management LLC increased 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 acquiring an additional 96,998 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Scholastic by 4.8% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 13,851 shares of the company’s stock valued at $262,000 after purchasing an additional 630 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in shares of Scholastic by 4.2% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 164,178 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,100,000 after purchasing an additional 6,628 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC increased its position in shares of Scholastic by 457.8% during the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 81,390 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,537,000 after purchasing an additional 66,798 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC lifted its stake in shares of Scholastic by 819.5% in the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,223 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,090 shares during the period. 82.57% of the stock is currently 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.