Scholastic (NASDAQ:SCHL) Stock Price Passes Above 200-Day Moving Average – Here’s What Happened

Scholastic Corporation (NASDAQ:SCHL)’s stock price passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Tuesday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of $31.55 and traded as high as $39.32. Scholastic shares last traded at $39.06, with a volume of 967,094 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Scholastic Stock Up 0.4%

The stock has a market capitalization of $849.24 million, a PE ratio of 15.75 and a beta of 1.08. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $35.37 and a 200-day moving average of $31.55.

Scholastic (NASDAQ:SCHL) last announced 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 company had revenue of $329.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $331.53 million. Scholastic had a return on equity of 2.47% and a net margin of 3.88%. Equities research analysts expect that Scholastic Corporation will post 0.84 EPS for the current year.

Scholastic Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 30th. Scholastic’s payout ratio is 32.26%.

Scholastic announced that its board has approved a share buyback program on Friday, March 20th that permits the company to buyback $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 23% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Scholastic

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Scholastic by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,593,981 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,230,000 after purchasing an additional 59,017 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its position in shares of Scholastic by 879.3% during the third quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,159,261 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,741,000 after purchasing an additional 1,040,880 shares in the last quarter. J. Goldman & Co LP increased its position in shares of Scholastic by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. J. Goldman & Co LP now owns 797,878 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,641,000 after purchasing an additional 31,427 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Scholastic by 6.4% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 739,366 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,244,000 after purchasing an additional 44,558 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bragg Financial Advisors Inc increased 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 worth $19,820,000 after purchasing an additional 76,801 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.