Scholastic (NASDAQ:SCHL) Stock Rating Lowered by Wall Street Zen
by Jessica Moore · The Cerbat GemScholastic (NASDAQ:SCHL – Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday.
A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Scholastic from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Zacks Research raised shares of Scholastic from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 3rd. Finally, B. Riley Financial increased their price objective on shares of Scholastic from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $40.00.
View Our Latest Stock Report on Scholastic
Scholastic Stock Performance
Scholastic stock opened at $40.34 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $36.68 and a 200 day moving average of $32.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $876.99 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.27 and a beta of 1.08. Scholastic has a 12-month low of $16.78 and a 12-month high of $43.39.
Scholastic (NASDAQ:SCHL – Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 19th. The company reported ($0.15) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.37) by $0.22. Scholastic had a net margin of 3.88% and a return on equity of 2.47%. The company had revenue of $329.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $331.53 million. On average, analysts predict that Scholastic will post 1.82 EPS for the current year.
Scholastic declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Friday, March 20th that allows the company to repurchase $200.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to purchase up to 23% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SCHL. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its holdings 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 valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 2,593 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Scholastic by 63.1% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,540 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 983 shares in the last quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Scholastic in the fourth quarter valued at $116,000. State of Wyoming purchased a new position in shares of Scholastic in the third quarter valued at $137,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in shares of Scholastic by 127.4% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 5,197 shares of the company’s stock valued at $142,000 after purchasing an additional 2,912 shares in the last quarter. 82.57% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
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.