Short Interest in Scholastic Co. (NASDAQ:SCHL) Rises By 22.4%

Scholastic Co. (NASDAQ:SCHL) was the target of a large increase in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 733,500 shares, an increase of 22.4% from the October 15th total of 599,200 shares. Approximately 3.3% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 195,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.8 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com lowered shares of Scholastic from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 5th.

Institutional Trading of Scholastic

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new stake in Scholastic during the second quarter valued at $35,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Scholastic in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $46,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in Scholastic in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $64,000. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of 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. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new position in Scholastic in the 1st quarter worth $129,000. 82.57% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Scholastic Trading Down 2.9 %

SCHL traded down $0.74 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $24.67. The stock had a trading volume of 170,275 shares, compared to its average volume of 210,573. Scholastic has a 1-year low of $23.69 and a 1-year high of $41.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $694.21 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.38 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 0.64. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $27.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $31.76.

Scholastic (NASDAQ:SCHL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The company reported ($2.13) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($2.48) by $0.35. The company had revenue of $237.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $233.49 million. Scholastic had a return on equity of 4.32% and a net margin of 1.49%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($2.20) EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Scholastic will post 1.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Scholastic Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.24%. Scholastic’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 142.86%.

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.