Scholastic (NASDAQ:SCHL) Sets New 12-Month High After Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Scholastic Corporation (NASDAQ:SCHL) shares reached a new 52-week high on Friday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The company traded as high as $38.58 and last traded at $38.1370, with a volume of 247320 shares. The stock had previously closed at $34.24.

The company reported ($0.15) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.37) by $0.22. Scholastic had a return on equity of 2.44% and a net margin of 3.88%.The company had revenue of $329.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $331.53 million.

Scholastic Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 30th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. Scholastic’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.26%.

Scholastic announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Friday, March 20th that authorizes the company to repurchase $200.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 23% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Key Headlines Impacting Scholastic

Here are the key news stories impacting Scholastic this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q3 EPS outperformed consensus (loss of $0.15 vs. est. $0.37 loss), which relieved near‑term earnings concerns and helped lift the stock. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: The Board authorized a $200 million modified Dutch‑auction tender offer (expected price $36–$40) — immediate buyback demand and signaling of undervaluation support the rally. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: The repurchase action is part of a larger capital‑return and balance‑sheet plan (Board set a $300M total repurchase authorization and a long‑term net leverage target of 2.0–2.5x adjusted EBITDA), which reduces capital allocation uncertainty. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst action: B. Riley raised its price target to $40 (maintaining a “neutral” rating), implying upside and lending incremental analyst support. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.20 per share, reinforcing shareholder returns alongside buybacks. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage and commentary pieces (Seeking Alpha, transcripts) frame the results as evidence of strategic progress and management’s focus on margin expansion — useful context but secondary to the concrete buyback and EPS beat. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Revenue narrowly missed estimates ($329.1M vs. $331.5M expected) and the company still reports a small net loss and negative margin, highlighting operational challenges in core book sales that could limit upside without durable revenue improvement. Article Title

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SCHL has been the topic of a number of research reports. Zacks Research lowered shares of Scholastic from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Scholastic from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. B. Riley Financial upped their price objective on Scholastic from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Scholastic from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, Scholastic has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $40.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SCHL. Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its stake in Scholastic by 21.5% in the third quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 386,928 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,594,000 after buying an additional 68,562 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Scholastic by 44.9% in the 2nd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 78,462 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,646,000 after acquiring an additional 24,320 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of Scholastic by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 739,366 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,244,000 after acquiring an additional 44,558 shares during the period. EVR Research LP boosted its stake in Scholastic by 58.7% during the 3rd quarter. EVR Research LP now owns 190,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,202,000 after acquiring an additional 70,270 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brandes Investment Partners LP grew its holdings in Scholastic by 124.0% during the second quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 97,149 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,038,000 after purchasing an additional 53,784 shares during the period. 82.57% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Scholastic Price Performance

The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $34.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $30.46. The stock has a market cap of $947.64 million, a P/E ratio of 15.02 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.24.

About Scholastic

Scholastic Corporation (NASDAQ: SCHL) is a global company dedicated to children’s publishing, education technology and distribution services. The company’s core business encompasses three primary segments: Children’s Book Publishing and Distribution, Education Technology, and International operations. Through its publishing arm, Scholastic produces and distributes a wide range of children’s books, novels, nonfiction titles and classroom magazines under well-known imprints such as Scholastic Press, Graphix and Chicken House.