New York State Teachers Retirement System Trims Stock Holdings in Scholastic Co. (NASDAQ:SCHL)

New York State Teachers Retirement System decreased its stake in Scholastic Co. (NASDAQ:SCHL) by 9.4% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 46,747 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,868 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Scholastic were worth $1,496,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its position in Scholastic by 16.4% in the first quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 306,017 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,540,000 after buying an additional 43,199 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in Scholastic in the second quarter worth about $1,936,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Scholastic in the second quarter worth about $1,295,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its position in Scholastic by 24.7% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 26,754 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,009,000 after buying an additional 5,299 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Scholastic by 62.6% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 67,417 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,391,000 after purchasing an additional 25,958 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.57% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Scholastic Stock Performance

NASDAQ:SCHL opened at $26.17 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. Scholastic Co. has a 12-month low of $23.69 and a 12-month high of $41.79. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $28.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $32.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $736.42 million, a P/E ratio of 46.73 and a beta of 1.06.

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

Scholastic Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. Scholastic’s payout ratio is presently 142.86%.

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.