Scholastic Co. (NASDAQ:SCHL) Short Interest Up 17.0% in February

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

Scholastic Stock Performance

SCHL opened at $19.15 on Thursday. Scholastic has a 1 year low of $17.72 and a 1 year high of $39.54. 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 PE ratio of -106.38 and a beta of 1.10. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $20.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $24.17.

Scholastic (NASDAQ:SCHL) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 positive return on equity of 1.91% and a negative net margin of 0.27%. Research analysts expect that Scholastic will post 0.84 EPS for the current year.

Scholastic Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Scholastic

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Scholastic by 25.6% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 45,646 shares of the company’s stock worth $974,000 after acquiring an additional 9,293 shares during the period. Vident Advisory LLC lifted its stake in shares of Scholastic by 30.6% in the 4th quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 19,028 shares of the company’s stock valued at $406,000 after acquiring an additional 4,453 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Scholastic by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 13,221 shares of the company’s stock valued at $282,000 after acquiring an additional 530 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Scholastic during the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Finally, J. Goldman & Co LP acquired a new position in Scholastic in the 4th quarter worth about $18,892,000. 82.57% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.