Scholastic Co. (NASDAQ:SCHL) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Scholastic Co. (NASDAQ:SCHL) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 1,860,000 shares, an increase of 17.0% from the February 13th total of 1,590,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 357,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.2 days. Currently, 8.1% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Institutional Trading of Scholastic

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Scholastic in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Scholastic in the third quarter worth approximately $46,000. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in Scholastic by 125.4% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,443 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 1,359 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Scholastic by 58.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,346 shares of the company’s stock worth $75,000 after buying an additional 869 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new stake in shares of Scholastic during the 4th quarter worth approximately $96,000. Institutional investors own 82.57% of the company’s stock.

Scholastic Price Performance

Shares of SCHL opened at $19.15 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $20.07 and a 200-day moving average of $24.17. 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 company has a market capitalization of $538.13 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -106.38 and a beta of 1.10. Scholastic has a 1 year low of $17.72 and a 1 year high of $39.54.

Scholastic (NASDAQ:SCHL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The company reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by ($0.48). Scholastic had a positive return on equity of 1.91% and a negative net margin of 0.27%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Scholastic will post 0.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Scholastic Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.18%. Scholastic’s payout ratio is -444.44%.

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.