BlackRock Inc. Invests $120.72 Million in Scholastic Corporation $SCHL

Key Points

• BlackRock acquired 2.62 million Scholastic shares worth approximately $120.7 million, giving it a 13.92% stake. Institutional investors collectively own 82.57% of the company.
• Scholastic beat quarterly earnings expectations with $2.19 EPS versus the $2.16 estimate, but revenue of $476.1 million fell short of the $517.1 million forecast.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious, with an average “Reduce” rating and a $42 consensus price target; insiders also sold nearly $11.7 million of shares over the past three months.

BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Scholastic Corporation (NASDAQ:SCHL - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 2,624,440 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $120,724,000. BlackRock Inc. owned about 13.92% of Scholastic at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Scholastic by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,593,981 shares of the company's stock worth $47,230,000 after buying an additional 59,017 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its stake in Scholastic by 879.3% in the third quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,159,261 shares of the company's stock worth $31,741,000 after acquiring an additional 1,040,880 shares during the period. J. Goldman & Co LP lifted its stake in Scholastic by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. J. Goldman & Co LP now owns 797,878 shares of the company's stock worth $23,641,000 after acquiring an additional 31,427 shares during the period. Bragg Financial Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in Scholastic by 13.0% in the fourth quarter. Bragg Financial Advisors Inc now owns 668,904 shares of the company's stock valued at $19,820,000 after acquiring an additional 76,801 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Scholastic by 57.2% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 424,973 shares of the company's stock valued at $12,592,000 after purchasing an additional 154,668 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.57% of the company's stock.

Scholastic Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of SCHL stock opened at $38.96 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 0.78. Scholastic Corporation has a one year low of $22.68 and a one year high of $48.07. The company's fifty day moving average price is $43.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $40.15. The company has a market capitalization of $734.79 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.65, a PEG ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.01.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.03. Scholastic had a return on equity of 5.29% and a net margin of 3.58%.The company had revenue of $476.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $517.06 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.59 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Scholastic Corporation will post 1.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Weiss Ratings lowered Scholastic from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Zacks Research lowered shares of 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 shares of Scholastic from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Scholastic currently has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $42.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Scholastic

In related news, EVP Iole Lucchese sold 289,624 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 289,623 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,515,410.48. This represents a 50.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Andres A. Alonso sold 2,112 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.28, for a total transaction of $85,071.36. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 21,189 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $853,492.92. This represents a 9.06% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 294,986 shares of company stock valued at $11,731,334 in the last three months. Company insiders own 12.77% of the company's stock.

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.

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