Scholastic (NASDAQ:SCHL) Shares Cross Above Two Hundred Day Moving Average – What’s Next?

Shares of Scholastic Corporation (NASDAQ:SCHL) crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $27.35 and traded as high as $34.76. Scholastic shares last traded at $34.40, with a volume of 445,913 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on SCHL. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Scholastic from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Scholastic in a research report on Monday, December 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $37.00.

Scholastic Stock Down 0.5%

The firm has a 50 day moving average of $29.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of $27.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $875.14 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -172.00 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Scholastic (NASDAQ:SCHL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, December 18th. The company reported $2.17 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.07 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $551.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $556.72 million. Scholastic had a positive return on equity of 2.66% and a negative net margin of 0.21%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.82 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Scholastic Corporation will post 0.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Scholastic Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of SCHL. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Scholastic by 160.5% during the 1st 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 in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its position in Scholastic by 4.8% in the first 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 last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in Scholastic by 4.2% in the first 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 boosted its stake in shares of Scholastic by 457.8% during the first 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio bought a new stake in shares of Scholastic during the first quarter worth about $417,000. 82.57% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.