Scholastic (NASDAQ:SCHL) Reaches New 1-Year High - Time to Buy?

Key Points

• Shares hit a new 52-week high, trading as high as $41.37 and last at about $42.90, rising roughly 8.3% on the day.
• Analysts show a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with an average target price of $40, while recent notes range from upgrades to "strong-buy" to a "neutral" view.
• Scholastic beat EPS estimates (‑$0.15 vs. ‑$0.37), declared a $0.20 quarterly dividend (1.9% yield), and authorized a $200 million stock buyback program that could repurchase up to 23% of shares.

Shares of Scholastic Corporation (NASDAQ:SCHL - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $41.37 and last traded at $42.8960, with a volume of 317776 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $39.76.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on SCHL. B. Riley Financial upped their price objective on shares of Scholastic from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Scholastic from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Zacks Research raised shares of Scholastic from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 3rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Scholastic from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, March 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $40.00.

Scholastic Stock Up 8.3%

The business's 50-day moving average price is $36.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $32.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $936.54 million, a PE ratio of 17.38 and a beta of 1.08.

Scholastic (NASDAQ:SCHL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 19th. The company reported ($0.15) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.37) by $0.22. The business had revenue of $329.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $331.53 million. Scholastic had a net margin of 3.88% and a return on equity of 2.47%. On average, analysts anticipate that Scholastic Corporation will post 1.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Scholastic Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 30th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 30th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Scholastic's dividend payout ratio is 32.26%.

Scholastic declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Friday, March 20th that permits the company to repurchase $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 23% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Scholastic

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SCHL. 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 valued at $31,741,000 after acquiring an additional 1,040,880 shares during the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC bought a new stake in Scholastic in the third quarter worth approximately $7,288,000. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC bought a new stake in Scholastic in the fourth quarter worth approximately $7,070,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its position 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 acquiring an additional 154,668 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Scholastic by 160.5% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 157,436 shares of the company's stock worth $2,972,000 after acquiring an additional 96,998 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.57% 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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