Royce & Associates LP Increases Holdings in Scholastic Co. (NASDAQ:SCHL)

Royce & Associates LP boosted its stake in shares of Scholastic Co. (NASDAQ:SCHL) by 12.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 47,391 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 5,197 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP owned 0.17% of Scholastic worth $1,011,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Barclays PLC grew its position in Scholastic by 291.6% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 41,228 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,319,000 after purchasing an additional 30,699 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Scholastic by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 838,366 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,882,000 after buying an additional 16,379 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Scholastic by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 120,446 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,569,000 after buying an additional 2,882 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Scholastic by 9.1% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 502,179 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,075,000 after purchasing an additional 41,864 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 869 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.57% of the company’s stock.

Scholastic Stock Up 12.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ SCHL opened at $21.22 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $20.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $24.06. The company has a market capitalization of $596.30 million, a P/E ratio of -117.88 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 0.81. Scholastic Co. has a 1 year low of $17.72 and a 1 year high of $39.54.

Scholastic (NASDAQ:SCHL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The company reported ($0.05) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.78) by $0.73. Scholastic had a negative net margin of 0.27% and a positive return on equity of 1.91%. The firm had revenue of $335.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $347.68 million. On average, equities research analysts predict that Scholastic Co. will post 0.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Scholastic Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.77%. Scholastic’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -444.44%.

Scholastic 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.