Scholastic (NASDAQ:SCHL) Sets New 1-Year High – Here’s What Happened

Scholastic Corporation (NASDAQ:SCHL)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $48.07 and last traded at $47.34, with a volume of 288610 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $46.00.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. B. Riley Financial upped their target price on shares of Scholastic from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Scholastic in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Scholastic from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 25th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Scholastic from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $40.00.

Scholastic Trading Up 2.9%

The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $41.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $36.95. The stock has a market cap of $1.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.09 and a beta of 1.02.

Scholastic declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Friday, March 20th that permits the company to repurchase $200.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 23% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Scholastic

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SCHL. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its stake in Scholastic by 879.3% in the third quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,159,261 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,741,000 after purchasing an additional 1,040,880 shares during the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC purchased a new stake in Scholastic in the third quarter worth $7,288,000. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Scholastic in the 4th quarter worth about $7,070,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Scholastic by 57.2% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 424,973 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,592,000 after acquiring an additional 154,668 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Scholastic by 160.5% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 157,436 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,972,000 after purchasing an additional 96,998 shares during the period. 82.57% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.