Pacer Advisors Inc. Purchases 171,775 Shares of Scholastic Co. (NASDAQ:SCHL)

Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Scholastic Co. (NASDAQ:SCHL) by 18.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,120,491 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 171,775 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. owned approximately 3.92% of Scholastic worth $39,744,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new position in Scholastic in the 2nd quarter valued at $35,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in Scholastic during the second quarter valued at about $64,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Scholastic during the first quarter worth about $129,000. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in Scholastic in the fourth quarter worth about $172,000. Finally, Quent Capital LLC purchased a new position in Scholastic in the first quarter valued at about $215,000. 82.57% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Scholastic

In related news, EVP Iole Lucchese purchased 1,654 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 23rd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $30.49 per share, with a total value of $50,430.46. Following the completion of the acquisition, the executive vice president now directly owns 74,264 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,264,309.36. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Iole Lucchese purchased 1,654 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $30.49 per share, for a total transaction of $50,430.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 74,264 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,264,309.36. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Warwick Peter purchased 1,674 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 23rd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $30.46 per share, for a total transaction of $50,990.04. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 104,349 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,178,470.54. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 18.62% of the company’s stock.

Scholastic Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ SCHL opened at $31.40 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $31.40 and its 200-day moving average price is $34.48. Scholastic Co. has a one year low of $28.47 and a one year high of $41.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $898.04 million, a PE ratio of 21.66 and a beta of 1.03.

Scholastic (NASDAQ:SCHL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The company reported $1.73 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.66 by ($0.93). The business had revenue of $474.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $552.50 million. Scholastic had a net margin of 0.76% and a return on equity of 3.34%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Scholastic Co. will post 1.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Scholastic Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.55%. Scholastic’s dividend payout ratio is 55.17%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com raised shares of Scholastic from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 27th.

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.