Scholastic (NASDAQ:SCHL) Trading Up 5.4% - Time to Buy?

Shares of Scholastic Co. (NASDAQ:SCHL - Get Free Report) traded up 5.4% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $21.15 and last traded at $21.11. 122,120 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 44% from the average session volume of 219,118 shares. The stock had previously closed at $20.03.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com lowered Scholastic from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, October 5th.

Scholastic Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $604.38 million, a P/E ratio of 38.36 and a beta of 1.07. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $25.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $29.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

Scholastic (NASDAQ:SCHL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The company reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.30 by ($0.48). Scholastic had a net margin of 1.49% and a return on equity of 4.32%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Scholastic Co. will post 1.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Scholastic Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.72%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. Scholastic's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -444.44%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SCHL. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its position in Scholastic by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 16,403 shares of the company's stock valued at $525,000 after buying an additional 489 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Scholastic by 6.4% during the second quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 11,222 shares of the company's stock worth $398,000 after purchasing an additional 675 shares during the period. Creative Planning grew its stake in shares of Scholastic by 4.4% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 16,135 shares of the company's stock worth $516,000 after purchasing an additional 679 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Scholastic by 58.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,346 shares of the company's stock valued at $75,000 after purchasing an additional 869 shares during the period. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC bought a new position in Scholastic during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Institutional investors own 82.57% of the company's stock.

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.