Scholastic (NASDAQ:SCHL) Shares Gap Down – Time to Sell?

Scholastic Co. (NASDAQ:SCHL)’s share price gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $26.43, but opened at $25.57. Scholastic shares last traded at $25.57, with a volume of 487 shares.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com cut shares of Scholastic from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, October 5th.

Scholastic Price Performance

The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $26.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $31.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $758.37 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.13 and a beta of 1.06. 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) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 26th. The company reported ($2.13) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($2.48) by $0.35. Scholastic had a net margin of 1.49% and a return on equity of 4.32%. The business had revenue of $237.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $233.49 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($2.20) earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Scholastic Co. will post 1.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Scholastic Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.97%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 31st. Scholastic’s payout ratio is 142.86%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Scholastic

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SCHL. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Scholastic by 18.1% in the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,120,491 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,744,000 after buying an additional 171,775 shares in the last quarter. Azarias Capital Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Scholastic by 32.7% during the 2nd quarter. Azarias Capital Management L.P. now owns 264,565 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,384,000 after acquiring an additional 65,120 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its position in Scholastic by 744.3% during the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 65,625 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,101,000 after acquiring an additional 57,852 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Scholastic by 13.2% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 488,259 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,319,000 after purchasing an additional 56,835 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC raised its position in Scholastic by 45.0% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 182,630 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,478,000 after purchasing an additional 56,647 shares during the last quarter. 82.57% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.