Scholastic Co. (NASDAQ:SCHL) Short Interest Up 22.4% in October

Scholastic Co. (NASDAQ:SCHL) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 733,500 shares, a growth of 22.4% from the October 15th total of 599,200 shares. Approximately 3.3% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 195,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.8 days.

Institutional Trading of Scholastic

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of SCHL. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new position in Scholastic in the second quarter valued at about $35,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Scholastic during the third quarter worth approximately $46,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Scholastic in the second quarter worth $64,000. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Scholastic by 58.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,346 shares of the company’s stock valued at $75,000 after acquiring an additional 869 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new position in Scholastic during the 1st quarter valued at $129,000. 82.57% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Scholastic Trading Down 2.9 %

Scholastic stock traded down $0.74 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $24.67. The stock had a trading volume of 178,521 shares, compared to its average volume of 222,636. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $27.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $31.66. Scholastic has a twelve month low of $23.69 and a twelve month high of $41.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 1.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $694.21 million, a PE ratio of 44.05 and a beta of 1.06.

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

Scholastic Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be given 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 3.24%. Scholastic’s payout ratio is currently 142.86%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

About Scholastic

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.