Pacer Advisors Inc. Acquires 16,379 Shares of Scholastic Co. (NASDAQ:SCHL)

Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Scholastic Co. (NASDAQ:SCHL) by 2.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 838,366 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 16,379 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. owned about 2.98% of Scholastic worth $17,882,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of SCHL. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Scholastic during the 3rd quarter valued at about $46,000. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in shares of Scholastic by 125.4% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,443 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,000 after buying an additional 1,359 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Scholastic by 58.8% during 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. Paloma Partners Management Co purchased a new position in Scholastic in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $243,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in Scholastic by 99.6% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 9,711 shares of the company’s stock valued at $311,000 after acquiring an additional 4,845 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.57% of the company’s stock.

Scholastic Price Performance

SCHL opened at $19.98 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $22.90 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $27.00. Scholastic Co. has a 52-week low of $18.57 and a 52-week high of $40.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $561.44 million, a P/E ratio of -110.99 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 1.24.

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

Scholastic Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st will be issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.00%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. Scholastic’s payout ratio is currently -444.42%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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