Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Reduces Stake in Scholastic Co. (NASDAQ:SCHL)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System decreased its holdings in shares of Scholastic Co. (NASDAQ:SCHL) by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,100 shares of the company’s stock after selling 700 shares during the quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Scholastic were worth $387,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SCHL. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Scholastic during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Scholastic during the second quarter worth $64,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new position in Scholastic in the 1st quarter valued at $129,000. Quent Capital LLC acquired a new position in Scholastic in the 1st quarter valued at $215,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in Scholastic by 13.7% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 5,776 shares of the company’s stock worth $218,000 after buying an additional 697 shares during the last quarter. 82.57% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Scholastic Price Performance

SCHL stock opened at $25.96 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $730.51 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.36 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $28.52 and a 200-day moving average of $32.20. Scholastic Co. has a 12-month low of $23.69 and a 12-month high of $41.79.

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

Scholastic Announces Dividend

The company 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 $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.08%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 31st. Scholastic’s payout ratio is 142.86%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.