Scholastic (SCHL) closed at $37.93 in the latest trading session, marking a +0.66% move from the prior day. The stock outpaced the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.56%. At the same time, the Dow added 0.49%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 1.01%.
Coming into today, shares of the publishing, education and media company had gained 1.1% in the past month. In that same time, the Consumer Staples sector lost 2.46%, while the S&P 500 gained 1.38%.
Investors will be hoping for strength from SCHL as it approaches its next earnings release. The company is expected to report EPS of $1.77, down 15.31% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $591.20 million, down 2.23% from the year-ago period.
For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $1.11 per share and revenue of $1.69 billion, which would represent changes of +2.78% and +2.22%, respectively, from the prior year.
Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for SCHL. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.
Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.
The Zacks Rank system, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate remained stagnant. SCHL is currently a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).
Digging into valuation, SCHL currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 33.95. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 22.84, so we one might conclude that SCHL is trading at a premium comparatively.
The Publishing - Books industry is part of the Consumer Staples sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 103, putting it in the top 41% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank includes is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
To follow SCHL in the coming trading sessions, be sure to utilize Zacks.com.
Scholastic Corporation (SCHL): Free Stock Analysis Report
Original post