Brandes Investment Partners LP Has $8.29 Million Position in Scholastic Corporation $SCHL

Brandes Investment Partners LP raised its stake in shares of Scholastic Corporation (NASDAQ:SCHL) by 6.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 279,686 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,407 shares during the quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP’s holdings in Scholastic were worth $8,287,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of SCHL. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its position in shares of Scholastic by 879.3% in 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 during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Scholastic in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $7,288,000. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC acquired a new position in Scholastic during the 4th quarter worth approximately $7,070,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Scholastic by 160.5% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 157,436 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,972,000 after acquiring an additional 96,998 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EVR Research LP boosted its position 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. 82.57% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Scholastic Stock Up 3.1%

Shares of Scholastic stock opened at $44.01 on Thursday. Scholastic Corporation has a 12-month low of $18.45 and a 12-month high of $44.07. The business’s 50 day moving average is $40.35 and its 200-day moving average is $35.38. The stock has a market cap of $956.87 million, a P/E ratio of 17.75 and a beta of 1.02.

Scholastic (NASDAQ:SCHL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 19th. The company reported ($0.15) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.37) by $0.22. Scholastic had a return on equity of 2.47% and a net margin of 3.88%.The business had revenue of $329.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $331.53 million. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Scholastic Corporation will post 1.82 EPS for the current year.

Scholastic announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Friday, March 20th that allows the company to repurchase $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 23% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Scholastic Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 30th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 30th. Scholastic’s dividend payout ratio is 32.26%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on SCHL shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded Scholastic from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 25th. B. Riley Financial upped their price target on Scholastic from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Scholastic from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $40.00.

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.