Bank of Montreal Can Purchases 5,991 Shares of Scholastic Co. (NASDAQ:SCHL)

Bank of Montreal Can grew its position in shares of Scholastic Co. (NASDAQ:SCHL) by 63.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,479 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,991 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can owned about 0.05% of Scholastic worth $549,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Inspire Investing LLC lifted its stake in Scholastic by 6.4% during the second quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 11,222 shares of the company’s stock worth $398,000 after purchasing an additional 675 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in Scholastic by 13.7% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 5,776 shares of the company’s stock worth $218,000 after purchasing an additional 697 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its stake in Scholastic by 11.4% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 7,455 shares of the company’s stock worth $281,000 after purchasing an additional 762 shares during the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new stake in Scholastic during the second quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, WINTON GROUP Ltd lifted its stake in Scholastic by 6.5% during the second quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 26,137 shares of the company’s stock worth $927,000 after purchasing an additional 1,605 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.57% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Scholastic

In other Scholastic news, CEO Warwick Peter purchased 1,674 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 23rd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $30.46 per share, with a total value of $50,990.04. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly 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 purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Scholastic news, EVP Iole Lucchese purchased 1,654 shares of the 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 transaction, 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 position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Warwick Peter purchased 1,674 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $30.46 per share, with a total value of $50,990.04. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 104,349 shares in the company, valued at $3,178,470.54. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 18.62% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Scholastic Trading Up 2.1 %

NASDAQ SCHL opened at $26.55 on Wednesday. Scholastic Co. has a 1-year low of $25.54 and a 1-year high of $41.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $30.46 and a 200-day moving average of $33.72. The firm has a market cap of $759.33 million, a PE ratio of 18.31 and a beta of 1.03.

Scholastic (NASDAQ:SCHL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, September 26th. The company reported ($2.13) earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $233.49 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($2.20) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Scholastic Co. will post 1.41 EPS for the current year.

Scholastic Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.01%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 31st. Scholastic’s payout ratio is 55.17%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com lowered Scholastic from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday.

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.