Scholastic (NASDAQ:SCHL) Lowered to Hold Rating by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded Scholastic (NASDAQ:SCHL) from a "buy" to a "hold" while other firms are mixed — the consensus rating is a "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of $40.00.
• The board authorized a $200 million share repurchase program, which could buy up to about 23% of outstanding shares, signaling management believes the stock may be undervalued.
• Scholastic reported an EPS beat for the quarter (‑$0.15 vs. consensus ‑$0.37) but revenue slightly missed at $329.1 million, and analysts expect about $1.82 in EPS for the fiscal year.

Scholastic (NASDAQ:SCHL - Get Free Report) was downgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report issued on Saturday.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on SCHL. Weiss Ratings raised Scholastic from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Zacks Research upgraded Scholastic from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 3rd. Finally, B. Riley Financial upped their price objective on Scholastic from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $40.00.

Scholastic Stock Down 4.1%

NASDAQ:SCHL opened at $40.34 on Friday. Scholastic has a twelve month low of $16.78 and a twelve month high of $43.39. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $36.68 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $32.61. The company has a market cap of $876.99 million, a P/E ratio of 16.27 and a beta of 1.08.

Scholastic (NASDAQ:SCHL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 19th. The company reported ($0.15) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.37) by $0.22. Scholastic had a return on equity of 2.47% and a net margin of 3.88%.The firm had revenue of $329.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $331.53 million. As a group, analysts anticipate that Scholastic will post 1.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Scholastic announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Friday, March 20th that allows the company to repurchase $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 23% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Scholastic

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its stake in Scholastic by 458.1% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,159 shares of the company's stock valued at $66,000 after acquiring an additional 2,593 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Scholastic by 63.1% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,540 shares of the company's stock valued at $70,000 after acquiring an additional 983 shares during the period. Marquette Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Scholastic in the 4th quarter valued at $116,000. State of Wyoming bought a new stake in Scholastic in the 3rd quarter valued at $137,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in Scholastic by 127.4% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 5,197 shares of the company's stock valued at $142,000 after acquiring an additional 2,912 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.57% of the company's stock.

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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