Empowered Funds LLC Makes New Investment in Scholastic Corporation $SCHL

Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new stake in Scholastic Corporation (NASDAQ:SCHL) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 253,526 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,662,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Scholastic by 4.8% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 13,851 shares of the company’s stock worth $262,000 after purchasing an additional 630 shares in the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in Scholastic by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 23,186 shares of the company’s stock worth $906,000 after buying an additional 729 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its position in Scholastic by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 20,829 shares of the company’s stock valued at $617,000 after buying an additional 824 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Scholastic in the 2nd quarter valued at about $43,000. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its stake in shares of Scholastic by 1.9% during the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 80,195 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,682,000 after acquiring an additional 1,509 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.57% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Scholastic

In other Scholastic news, EVP Iole Lucchese sold 289,624 shares of Scholastic stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.76, for a total value of $11,515,450.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 289,623 shares in the company, valued at $11,515,410.48. The trade was a 50.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Andres A. Alonso sold 2,112 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.28, for a total value of $85,071.36. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 21,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $853,492.92. This trade represents a 9.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 294,986 shares of company stock valued at $11,731,334 in the last quarter. Insiders own 12.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings cut Scholastic from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Zacks Research downgraded Scholastic from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, B. Riley Financial increased their target price on Scholastic from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $42.00.

Scholastic Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ SCHL opened at $38.96 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The company has a market capitalization of $734.79 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.01. Scholastic Corporation has a twelve month low of $22.68 and a twelve month high of $48.07. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $43.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $40.15.

Scholastic (NASDAQ:SCHL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $2.19 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.03. Scholastic had a net margin of 3.58% and a return on equity of 5.29%. The firm had revenue of $476.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $517.06 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.59 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Scholastic Corporation will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current year.

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.