253,526 Shares in Scholastic Corporation $SCHL Acquired by Empowered Funds LLC

Key Points

• Empowered Funds LLC acquired 253,526 Scholastic shares valued at approximately $11.7 million, giving it a 1.34% stake. Institutional investors collectively own 82.57% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious: Scholastic has an average “Reduce” rating and a consensus price target of $42, while Zacks Research downgraded the stock to “strong sell.”
• Scholastic’s latest quarter beat earnings expectations with EPS of $2.19 versus $2.16 forecast, but revenue of $476.1 million fell short of the $517.1 million estimate. Insiders sold nearly $11.7 million of stock during the last quarter.

Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new position in shares of Scholastic Corporation (NASDAQ:SCHL - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 253,526 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,662,000. Empowered Funds LLC owned about 1.34% of Scholastic as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Scholastic during the first quarter valued at $1,164,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Scholastic by 62.1% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 174,539 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,817,000 after purchasing an additional 66,890 shares during the last quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC purchased a new position in Scholastic in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,352,000. Caxton Associates LLP boosted its position in Scholastic by 248.3% during the first quarter. Caxton Associates LLP now owns 40,079 shares of the company's stock worth $1,565,000 after acquiring an additional 28,571 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC acquired a new position in Scholastic in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,623,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.57% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on SCHL shares. Weiss Ratings downgraded Scholastic from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Zacks Research lowered Scholastic from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Finally, B. Riley Financial lifted their price target on Scholastic from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Scholastic presently has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $42.00.

Insider Transactions at Scholastic

In other Scholastic 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 transaction of $11,515,450.24. Following the completion of the sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Andres A. Alonso sold 2,112 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.28, for a total transaction of $85,071.36. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 21,189 shares of the company's stock, valued at $853,492.92. The trade was a 9.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 294,986 shares of company stock worth $11,731,334. 12.77% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Scholastic Price Performance

Shares of Scholastic stock opened at $38.96 on Friday. Scholastic Corporation has a twelve month low of $22.68 and a twelve month high of $48.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $734.79 million, a P/E ratio of 16.65, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.01. 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 business's fifty day moving average price is $43.34 and its 200 day moving average price is $40.15.

Scholastic (NASDAQ:SCHL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $2.19 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $476.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $517.06 million. Scholastic had a return on equity of 5.29% and a net margin of 3.58%.During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.59 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate 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.

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