Bragg Financial Advisors Inc Decreases Stake in Scholastic Co. (NASDAQ:SCHL)

Bragg Financial Advisors Inc lessened its holdings in shares of Scholastic Co. (NASDAQ:SCHL - Free Report) by 14.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 321,841 shares of the company's stock after selling 52,271 shares during the period. Bragg Financial Advisors Inc owned approximately 1.15% of Scholastic worth $6,865,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Scholastic by 58.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,346 shares of the company's stock worth $75,000 after buying an additional 869 shares during the period. KBC Group NV raised its stake in shares of Scholastic by 125.4% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,443 shares of the company's stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 1,359 shares during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in shares of Scholastic in the 4th quarter valued at about $96,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Scholastic by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 9,444 shares of the company's stock worth $201,000 after buying an additional 662 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in Scholastic by 99.6% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 9,711 shares of the company's stock valued at $311,000 after acquiring an additional 4,845 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.57% of the company's stock.

Scholastic Stock Performance

Shares of SCHL traded up $0.46 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $16.30. The stock had a trading volume of 389,482 shares, compared to its average volume of 264,403. The firm has a market capitalization of $458.05 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -90.55 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 1.24. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $19.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $22.15. Scholastic Co. has a fifty-two week low of $15.77 and a fifty-two week high of $38.77.

Scholastic (NASDAQ:SCHL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The company reported ($0.05) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.78) by $0.73. Scholastic had a positive return on equity of 1.91% and a negative net margin of 0.27%. The business had revenue of $335.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $347.68 million. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Scholastic Co. will post 0.84 EPS for the current year.

Scholastic Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.91%. Scholastic's dividend payout ratio is currently 133.33%.

Scholastic Company Profile

Scholastic Corporation publishes and distributes children's books worldwide. It operates in three segments: Children's Book Publishing and Distribution, Education Solutions, and International. The Children's Book Publishing and Distribution segment engages in publication and distribution of children's print, digital, and audio books, as well as media and interactive products through its school reading events and trade channel; and operation of school-based book clubs and book fairs in the United States.