Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $2.57 Million Holdings in Scholastic Co. (NASDAQ:SCHL)

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Scholastic Co. (NASDAQ:SCHL) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 120,446 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,882 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.43% of Scholastic worth $2,569,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Rhumbline Advisers increased its stake in shares of Scholastic by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 81,637 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,741,000 after acquiring an additional 860 shares during the last quarter. Azarias Capital Management L.P. increased its stake in Scholastic by 71.8% during the 4th quarter. Azarias Capital Management L.P. now owns 467,783 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,978,000 after purchasing an additional 195,507 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in Scholastic by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 157,550 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,361,000 after purchasing an additional 7,642 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Scholastic by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 838,366 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,882,000 after purchasing an additional 16,379 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its stake in Scholastic by 125.4% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,443 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 1,359 shares in the last quarter. 82.57% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Scholastic Price Performance

NASDAQ SCHL opened at $21.07 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $20.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $25.00. Scholastic Co. has a 52-week low of $17.72 and a 52-week high of $39.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 1.24. The stock has a market cap of $592.09 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -117.05 and a beta of 1.08.

Scholastic (NASDAQ:SCHL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The company reported $1.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by ($0.48). Scholastic had a positive return on equity of 1.91% and a negative net margin of 0.27%. Analysts anticipate that Scholastic Co. will post 0.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Scholastic Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.80%. Scholastic’s dividend payout ratio is currently -444.44%.

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.