Scholastic (NASDAQ:SCHL) Reaches New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

Shares of Scholastic Corporation (NASDAQ:SCHL) reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $35.79 and last traded at $34.44, with a volume of 45031 shares. The stock had previously closed at $35.01.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Zacks Research raised Scholastic from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Weiss Ratings raised Scholastic from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $37.00.

Scholastic Trading Down 0.4%

The stock has a market capitalization of $886.71 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -173.70 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The company has a fifty day moving average of $31.68 and a two-hundred day moving average of $28.78.

Scholastic (NASDAQ:SCHL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 18th. The company reported $2.17 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $556.72 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.82 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Scholastic Corporation will post 0.84 EPS for the current year.

Scholastic Announces Dividend

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Scholastic

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SCHL. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Scholastic by 63.1% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,540 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,000 after acquiring an additional 983 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its holdings in Scholastic by 458.1% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,159 shares of the company’s stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 2,593 shares in the last quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Scholastic in the 4th quarter worth approximately $116,000. State of Wyoming bought a new position in shares of Scholastic during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $137,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in Scholastic by 127.4% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 5,197 shares of the company’s stock valued at $142,000 after buying an additional 2,912 shares in the last quarter. 82.57% of the stock is 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.