John Wiley & Sons (NYSE:WLY) Reaches New 52-Week Low – Should You Sell?

John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (NYSE:WLY)’s share price reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $35.50 and last traded at $35.56, with a volume of 126909 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $37.14.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on WLY shares. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of John Wiley & Sons from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 6th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of John Wiley & Sons in a research note on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, John Wiley & Sons has an average rating of “Hold”.

John Wiley & Sons Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.61. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $38.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $40.22. The stock has a market cap of $1.89 billion, a PE ratio of 19.95 and a beta of 1.03.

John Wiley & Sons (NYSE:WLY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 28th. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter. The business had revenue of $533.00 million for the quarter. John Wiley & Sons had a net margin of 5.82% and a return on equity of 27.31%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that John Wiley & Sons, Inc. will post 3.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

John Wiley & Sons Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 23rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 7th were issued a $0.355 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 7th. This represents a $1.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.0%. John Wiley & Sons’s dividend payout ratio is currently 79.78%.

John Wiley & Sons declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, September 25th that permits the company to repurchase $250.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase up to 11.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Trading of John Wiley & Sons

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. State of Wyoming raised its stake in John Wiley & Sons by 23.6% during the first quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 1,298 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of John Wiley & Sons by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 11,746 shares of the company’s stock valued at $524,000 after acquiring an additional 287 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in shares of John Wiley & Sons by 6.1% during the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 5,111 shares of the company’s stock valued at $228,000 after acquiring an additional 295 shares in the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank lifted its stake in John Wiley & Sons by 3.5% during the third quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 12,008 shares of the company’s stock worth $486,000 after purchasing an additional 401 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in John Wiley & Sons by 2.2% in the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 19,628 shares of the company’s stock worth $794,000 after purchasing an additional 422 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.94% of the company’s stock.

John Wiley & Sons Company Profile

John Wiley & Sons, Inc engages in the provision of research and learning materials. It operates through the following segments: Research, Learning, and Held for Sale or Sold. The Research segment consists of research publishing and research solutions. The Learning segment includes academic and professional reporting lines and consists of publishing and related knowledge solutions.