Scholastic Co. (NASDAQ:SCHL) Short Interest Update

Scholastic Co. (NASDAQ:SCHL) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 904,500 shares, an increase of 31.7% from the December 15th total of 687,000 shares. Approximately 4.0% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 268,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.4 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of Scholastic during the second quarter worth $1,936,000. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in Scholastic by 291.6% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 41,228 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,319,000 after acquiring an additional 30,699 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Scholastic by 9.1% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 502,179 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,075,000 after acquiring an additional 41,864 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Scholastic by 58.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,346 shares of the company’s stock worth $75,000 after acquiring an additional 869 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Martingale Asset Management L P raised its position in shares of Scholastic by 128.1% during the third quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P now owns 49,529 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,585,000 after purchasing an additional 27,812 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.57% of the company’s stock.

Scholastic Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of Scholastic stock traded down $0.18 on Friday, hitting $20.00. 192,088 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 302,299. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $23.79 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $27.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $562 million, a PE ratio of -111.10 and a beta of 1.10. Scholastic has a one year low of $18.57 and a one year high of $40.74.

Scholastic (NASDAQ:SCHL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The company reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by ($0.48). Scholastic had a negative net margin of 0.27% and a positive return on equity of 1.91%. On average, research analysts expect that Scholastic will post 0.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Scholastic Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. Scholastic’s payout ratio is -444.42%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.