Scholastic Co. (NASDAQ:SCHL) to Issue $0.20 Quarterly Dividend

Scholastic Co. (NASDAQ:SCHL) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, December 11th,RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a dividend of 0.20 per share on Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st.

Scholastic has increased its dividend by an average of 10.1% per year over the last three years. Scholastic has a dividend payout ratio of 30.7% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Scholastic to earn $2.61 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.80 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 30.7%.

Scholastic Stock Down 2.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ SCHL opened at $25.57 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 0.64. Scholastic has a 1 year low of $23.69 and a 1 year high of $41.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $719.54 million, a P/E ratio of 45.66 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $25.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $30.34.

Scholastic (NASDAQ:SCHL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 26th. The company reported ($2.13) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($2.48) by $0.35. Scholastic had a return on equity of 4.32% and a net margin of 1.49%. 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 business earned ($2.20) EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Scholastic will post 1.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.