Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of Call Options on Scholastic (NASDAQ:SCHL)

Scholastic Corporation (NASDAQ:SCHL) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Investors bought 3,818 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 1,736% compared to the average daily volume of 208 call options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Scholastic

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Ananym Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Scholastic during the first quarter valued at approximately $23,600,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its position in Scholastic by 879.3% during the 3rd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,159,261 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,741,000 after purchasing an additional 1,040,880 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its position in Scholastic by 245,664.0% during the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 518,562 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,790,000 after purchasing an additional 518,351 shares in the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Scholastic in the 3rd quarter worth $7,288,000. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Scholastic by 286.6% during the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 184,666 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,873,000 after buying an additional 136,903 shares in the last quarter. 82.57% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Scholastic Price Performance

SCHL opened at $29.37 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $28.55 and a 200 day moving average of $24.69. The stock has a market cap of $738.36 million, a P/E ratio of -44.50 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. Scholastic has a 52-week low of $15.77 and a 52-week high of $31.86.

Scholastic (NASDAQ:SCHL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, September 18th. The company reported ($2.52) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($2.44) by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $225.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $240.41 million. Scholastic had a positive return on equity of 1.10% and a negative net margin of 0.65%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($2.13) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Scholastic will post 0.84 EPS for the current year.

Scholastic Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Friday, October 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 31st. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. Scholastic’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -121.21%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on SCHL. Zacks Research upgraded Scholastic from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Scholastic in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Scholastic from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Finally, B. Riley began coverage on shares of Scholastic in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $37.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $37.00.

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.