Pacer Advisors Inc. Sells 298,504 Shares of Scholastic Co. (NASDAQ:SCHL)

Pacer Advisors Inc. lessened its position in shares of Scholastic Co. (NASDAQ:SCHL) by 26.6% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 821,987 shares of the company’s stock after selling 298,504 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Scholastic were worth $26,312,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Scholastic by 13.2% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 488,259 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,319,000 after acquiring an additional 56,835 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Scholastic by 16.4% during the first quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 306,017 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,540,000 after acquiring an additional 43,199 shares during the period. Azarias Capital Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Scholastic by 32.7% during the second quarter. Azarias Capital Management L.P. now owns 264,565 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,384,000 after acquiring an additional 65,120 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC raised its position in shares of Scholastic by 45.0% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 182,630 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,478,000 after buying an additional 56,647 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in shares of Scholastic by 5.4% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 149,908 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,799,000 after buying an additional 7,638 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.57% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Scholastic Stock Up 0.6 %

NASDAQ SCHL opened at $25.46 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. Scholastic Co. has a 1-year low of $23.69 and a 1-year high of $41.79. The company has a 50 day moving average of $27.05 and a 200-day moving average of $31.30. The company has a market cap of $716.44 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.47 and a beta of 1.06.

Scholastic (NASDAQ:SCHL) last released its quarterly 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 net margin of 1.49% and a return on equity of 4.32%. The company had revenue of $237.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $233.49 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($2.20) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Scholastic Co. will post 1.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.14%. Scholastic’s dividend payout ratio is currently 142.86%.

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.