Scholastic (NASDAQ:SCHL) Hits New 52-Week High After Strong Earnings

Scholastic Corporation (NASDAQ:SCHL)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock traded as high as $38.58 and last traded at $38.1370, with a volume of 247320 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $34.24.

The company reported ($0.15) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.37) by $0.22. Scholastic had a net margin of 3.88% and a return on equity of 2.44%. The company had revenue of $329.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $331.53 million.

Scholastic Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 30th. Scholastic’s payout ratio is presently 32.26%.

Scholastic declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Friday, March 20th that allows the company to repurchase $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 23% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Key Scholastic News

Here are the key news stories impacting Scholastic this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q3 EPS outperformed consensus (loss of $0.15 vs. est. $0.37 loss), which relieved near‑term earnings concerns and helped lift the stock. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: The Board authorized a $200 million modified Dutch‑auction tender offer (expected price $36–$40) — immediate buyback demand and signaling of undervaluation support the rally. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: The repurchase action is part of a larger capital‑return and balance‑sheet plan (Board set a $300M total repurchase authorization and a long‑term net leverage target of 2.0–2.5x adjusted EBITDA), which reduces capital allocation uncertainty. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst action: B. Riley raised its price target to $40 (maintaining a “neutral” rating), implying upside and lending incremental analyst support. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.20 per share, reinforcing shareholder returns alongside buybacks. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage and commentary pieces (Seeking Alpha, transcripts) frame the results as evidence of strategic progress and management’s focus on margin expansion — useful context but secondary to the concrete buyback and EPS beat. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Revenue narrowly missed estimates ($329.1M vs. $331.5M expected) and the company still reports a small net loss and negative margin, highlighting operational challenges in core book sales that could limit upside without durable revenue improvement. Article Title

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on SCHL. B. Riley Financial boosted their price objective on Scholastic from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Scholastic from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Scholastic from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $40.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Scholastic

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its stake in shares of Scholastic by 458.1% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,159 shares of the company’s stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 2,593 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Scholastic by 63.1% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,540 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,000 after buying an additional 983 shares in the last quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Scholastic during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $116,000. State of Wyoming bought a new position in Scholastic in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $137,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew 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 buying an additional 2,912 shares in the last quarter. 82.57% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Scholastic Price Performance

The business’s 50 day moving average is $34.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $30.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $947.64 million, a PE ratio of 15.02 and a beta of 1.17.

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.