Scholastic (NASDAQ:SCHL) Stock Price Target Lowered at B. Riley Financial

Key Points

• B. Riley Financial lowered Scholastic’s price target from $42 to $35 while maintaining a “neutral” rating. The new target implies approximately 6.57% upside, and analysts’ consensus remains “Hold” with an average target of $35.
• Scholastic reported a quarterly loss of $3.63 per share, missing estimates by $0.21, while revenue of $216.8 million fell short of the $224.69 million consensus forecast.
• Insiders sold nearly 295,000 shares worth about $11.7 million over the past 90 days, although institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 82.57% of the company.

Scholastic (NASDAQ:SCHL - Get Free Report) had its price target lowered by equities researchers at B. Riley Financial from $42.00 to $35.00 in a research note issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a "neutral" rating on the stock. B. Riley Financial's target price suggests a potential upside of 6.57% from the company's current price.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on SCHL. Weiss Ratings upgraded Scholastic from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Friday, September 11th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Scholastic from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Scholastic has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $35.00.

Scholastic Price Performance

Scholastic stock traded up $0.49 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $32.84. The company had a trading volume of 237,830 shares, compared to its average volume of 445,083. Scholastic has a fifty-two week low of $26.38 and a fifty-two week high of $48.07. 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 cap of $619.42 million, a P/E ratio of 23.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.01. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $39.42 and a 200 day simple moving average of $40.43.

Scholastic (NASDAQ:SCHL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 24th. The company reported ($3.63) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($3.42) by ($0.21). Scholastic had a return on equity of 4.71% and a net margin of 3.60%.The company had revenue of $216.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $224.69 million. On average, equities research analysts predict that Scholastic will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Scholastic

In other news, EVP Iole Lucchese sold 289,624 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.76, for a total value of $11,515,450.24. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 289,623 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,515,410.48. The trade was a 50.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Kaya Henderson sold 3,250 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.25, for a total transaction of $130,812.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 7,113 shares in the company, valued at approximately $286,298.25. This represents a 31.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 294,986 shares of company stock worth $11,731,334 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 12.77% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Scholastic

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SCHL. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new stake in Scholastic during the second quarter valued at $56,000. Corient Private Wealth LP acquired a new position in shares of Scholastic in the 2nd quarter valued at about $480,000. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new position in shares of Scholastic in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,373,000. iSAM Funds UK Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Scholastic during the 2nd quarter valued at about $235,000. Finally, BTG Pactual Asset Management US LLC bought a new stake in shares of Scholastic during the 2nd quarter valued at about $333,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.57% of the company's stock.

Scholastic Company Profile

Scholastic Corporation is a global children's publishing, education and media company. Founded in 1920 by M. R. Robinson, the company develops and distributes books, classroom materials, digital learning resources and educational media for children, families, teachers and schools.

Its publishing portfolio includes original and licensed children's books, series and educational titles, while its education business provides classroom magazines, supplemental curriculum materials, professional learning resources and digital platforms.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.