Inspire Investing LLC Acquires 2,952 Shares of Scholastic Co. (NASDAQ:SCHL)

Inspire Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Scholastic Co. (NASDAQ:SCHL) by 26.3% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 14,174 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,952 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC’s holdings in Scholastic were worth $454,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SCHL. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Scholastic by 18.1% during the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,120,491 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,744,000 after acquiring an additional 171,775 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Scholastic by 13.2% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 488,259 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,319,000 after buying an additional 56,835 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its position in Scholastic by 16.4% during the first quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 306,017 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,540,000 after purchasing an additional 43,199 shares in the last quarter. Azarias Capital Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of Scholastic by 32.7% during the 2nd quarter. Azarias Capital Management L.P. now owns 264,565 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,384,000 after acquiring an additional 65,120 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in Scholastic by 45.0% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 182,630 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,478,000 after purchasing an additional 56,647 shares in the last quarter. 82.57% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Scholastic

In related news, EVP Iole Lucchese acquired 1,654 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 23rd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $30.49 per share, with a total value of $50,430.46. Following the acquisition, the executive vice president now directly owns 74,264 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,264,309.36. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Scholastic news, CEO Warwick Peter purchased 1,674 shares of Scholastic stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were bought at an average price of $30.46 per share, for a total transaction of $50,990.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 104,349 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,178,470.54. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Iole Lucchese purchased 1,654 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $30.49 per share, for a total transaction of $50,430.46. Following the purchase, the executive vice president now owns 74,264 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,264,309.36. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 17.59% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Scholastic Price Performance

Shares of Scholastic stock opened at $26.76 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $753.03 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.79 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $30.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $33.33. Scholastic Co. has a 52 week low of $25.54 and a 52 week high of $41.79.

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

Scholastic Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.99%. Scholastic’s payout ratio is 142.86%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Scholastic 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.