KBC Group NV Grows Position in Scholastic Co. (NASDAQ:SCHL)

KBC Group NV grew its position in shares of Scholastic Co. (NASDAQ:SCHL) by 125.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 2,443 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,359 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Scholastic were worth $52,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SCHL. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Scholastic during the third quarter worth $46,000. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Scholastic by 58.8% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,346 shares of the company’s stock valued at $75,000 after purchasing an additional 869 shares during the last quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co bought a new stake in shares of Scholastic during the 3rd quarter worth $243,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in shares of Scholastic by 99.6% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 9,711 shares of the company’s stock worth $311,000 after purchasing an additional 4,845 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Scholastic by 54.6% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,049 shares of the company’s stock worth $354,000 after buying an additional 3,900 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.57% of the company’s stock.

Scholastic Stock Performance

NASDAQ SCHL opened at $18.74 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $526.61 million, a PE ratio of -104.11 and a beta of 1.08. 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 Co. has a 52-week low of $17.72 and a 52-week high of $40.74. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $21.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $26.08.

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

Scholastic Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 31st. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.27%. Scholastic’s dividend payout ratio is presently -444.44%.

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.