Principal Financial Group Inc. Grows Position in Scholastic Corporation $SCHL

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Scholastic Corporation (NASDAQ:SCHL) by 62.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 174,539 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 66,890 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Scholastic were worth $6,817,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS purchased a new stake in Scholastic during the 1st quarter valued at $221,000. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its position in shares of Scholastic by 5,351.0% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 5,451 shares of the company’s stock valued at $213,000 after acquiring an additional 5,351 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Scholastic by 505.3% during the first quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 7,088 shares of the company’s stock valued at $277,000 after acquiring an additional 5,917 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in shares of Scholastic during the first quarter valued at about $398,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Scholastic by 57.2% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 424,973 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,592,000 after purchasing an additional 154,668 shares during the period. 82.57% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Scholastic Stock Down 5.5%

Shares of SCHL stock opened at $40.76 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $886.12 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.42, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.99. The business’s fifty day moving average is $43.79 and its 200 day moving average is $39.04. Scholastic Corporation has a twelve month low of $22.68 and a twelve month high of $48.07.

Scholastic (NASDAQ:SCHL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $2.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $476.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $517.06 million. Scholastic had a return on equity of 5.08% and a net margin of 3.58%.During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.59 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Scholastic Corporation will post 2.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Scholastic Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 31st will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 31st. This is a positive change from Scholastic’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Scholastic’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.19%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SCHL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Zacks Research cut Scholastic from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Scholastic in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Wall Street Zen cut Scholastic from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, April 25th. Finally, B. Riley Financial lifted their price objective on Scholastic from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Scholastic presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $42.00.

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.