Scholastic Co. (NASDAQ:SCHL) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Scholastic Co. (NASDAQ:SCHL - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 1,860,000 shares, a growth of 17.0% from the February 13th total of 1,590,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 357,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.2 days. Approximately 8.1% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Scholastic

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Scholastic during the third quarter valued at $46,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Scholastic in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Scholastic by 58.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,346 shares of the company's stock valued at $75,000 after acquiring an additional 869 shares during the period. KBC Group NV raised its stake in shares of Scholastic by 125.4% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,443 shares of the company's stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 1,359 shares during the period. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in shares of Scholastic in the fourth quarter valued at $96,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.57% of the company's stock.

Scholastic Price Performance

Shares of SCHL stock traded up $2.42 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $21.22. The company had a trading volume of 2,291,312 shares, compared to its average volume of 237,469. Scholastic has a 52-week low of $17.72 and a 52-week high of $38.78. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $20.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $23.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The company has a market capitalization of $596.30 million, a P/E ratio of -117.88 and a beta of 1.10.

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

Scholastic Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. Scholastic's payout ratio is 133.33%.

About Scholastic

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.