Scholastic Co. (NASDAQ:SCHL) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.20

Scholastic Co. (NASDAQ:SCHL) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, July 17th, Zacks reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th will be paid a dividend of 0.20 per share on Monday, September 16th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 30th.

Scholastic has increased its dividend payment by an average of 10.1% annually over the last three years. Scholastic has a payout ratio of 24.7% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Scholastic to earn $3.24 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.80 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 24.7%.

Scholastic Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of SCHL opened at $31.60 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $903.76 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.79 and a beta of 1.02. Scholastic has a 52-week low of $28.47 and a 52-week high of $44.40. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $32.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $35.40.

Scholastic (NASDAQ:SCHL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The company reported $1.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.66 by ($0.93). Scholastic had a net margin of 0.76% and a return on equity of 3.34%. The company had revenue of $474.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $552.50 million. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Scholastic will post 1.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Scholastic

In other Scholastic news, EVP Iole Lucchese purchased 1,654 shares of Scholastic stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 23rd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $30.49 per share, for a total transaction of $50,430.46. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 74,264 shares in the company, valued at $2,264,309.36. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Scholastic news, EVP Iole Lucchese acquired 1,654 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $30.49 per share, for a total transaction of $50,430.46. Following the completion of the purchase, the executive vice president now owns 74,264 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,264,309.36. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Warwick Peter bought 1,674 shares of Scholastic stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 23rd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $30.46 per share, with a total value of $50,990.04. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 104,349 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,178,470.54. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 18.62% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded Scholastic from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday.

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.