Scholastic (NASDAQ:SCHL) Director Sells 3,250 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• Director Kaya Henderson sold 3,250 Scholastic shares at an average price of $40.25, generating $130,812.50 and reducing her ownership by 31.36% to 7,113 shares.
• Scholastic reported quarterly EPS of $2.19, slightly above estimates, but revenue of $476.1 million fell short of the $517.1 million consensus forecast. The stock recently traded at $41.98, with a 52-week range of $22.68 to $48.07.
• The company increased its quarterly dividend from $0.20 to $0.25 per share, equivalent to a $1.00 annualized dividend and a 2.4% yield. Analysts maintain a generally cautious view, with an average “Reduce” rating and a $42 price target.

Scholastic Corporation (NASDAQ:SCHL - Get Free Report) 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 value of $130,812.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 7,113 shares of the company's stock, valued at $286,298.25. The trade was a 31.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Scholastic Stock Performance

SCHL traded up $2.08 during trading on Friday, reaching $41.98. 444,903 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 365,122. Scholastic Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $22.68 and a fifty-two week high of $48.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $43.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $39.50. The company has a market capitalization of $791.74 million, a P/E ratio of 17.94, a PEG ratio of 1.92 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $476.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $517.06 million. Scholastic had a net margin of 3.58% and a return on equity of 5.29%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.59 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Scholastic Corporation will post 1.6 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This is a positive change from Scholastic's previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 31st. Scholastic's dividend payout ratio is 34.19%.

Institutional Trading of Scholastic

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Scholastic during the second quarter worth approximately $120,724,000. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Scholastic in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $247,000. Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new position in shares of Scholastic in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $760,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in Scholastic during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $11,417,000. Finally, State of Wyoming acquired a new stake in Scholastic during the 2nd quarter valued at $115,000. 82.57% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SCHL has been the topic of several analyst reports. B. Riley Financial upped their price objective on Scholastic from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Scholastic from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, April 25th. Zacks Research lowered Scholastic from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Scholastic from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average 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.

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.

Continue following MarketBeat

Add MarketBeat as your preferred source on Google to see our latest stories in your feed.

Add As Preferred Source