Scholastic (NASDAQ:SCHL) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.03 EPS

Key Points

• Scholastic beat earnings estimates for the quarter, reporting $2.19 EPS versus the $2.16 consensus. However, revenue came in below expectations at $476.1 million compared with the $517.06 million estimate.
• The stock edged higher after the report, rising 0.2% to $46.44 on trading volume roughly in line with its average. The shares are trading near their 52-week high of $48.07.
• Scholastic raised its quarterly dividend to $0.25 per share from $0.20, equal to a $1.00 annualized payout and a 2.2% yield. The dividend will be paid on September 15 to shareholders of record on August 31.

Scholastic (NASDAQ:SCHL - Get Free Report) issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The company reported $2.19 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.03, FiscalAI reports. The company had revenue of $476.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $517.06 million. Scholastic had a net margin of 3.88% and a return on equity of 2.47%.

Scholastic Trading Up 0.2%

NASDAQ SCHL traded up $0.08 on Thursday, hitting $46.44. The company's stock had a trading volume of 463,760 shares, compared to its average volume of 460,590. Scholastic has a 52-week low of $21.34 and a 52-week high of $48.07. The firm has a market cap of $1.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.73, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.99. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $43.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.77.

Scholastic Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 31st will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This is an increase from Scholastic's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 31st. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. Scholastic's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.26%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SCHL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. B. Riley Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Scholastic from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Scholastic in a research note 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, Zacks Research lowered Scholastic from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $42.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SCHL. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised 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 buying an additional 1,040,880 shares in the last quarter. J. Goldman & Co LP lifted its stake in shares of Scholastic by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. J. Goldman & Co LP now owns 797,878 shares of the company's stock valued at $23,641,000 after purchasing an additional 31,427 shares during the period. Bragg Financial Advisors Inc boosted its position in shares of Scholastic by 13.0% during the fourth quarter. Bragg Financial Advisors Inc now owns 668,904 shares of the company's stock valued at $19,820,000 after purchasing an additional 76,801 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Scholastic by 57.2% in 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. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC bought a new position in Scholastic in the third quarter worth $7,288,000. 82.57% of the stock is currently 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.

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