John Wiley & Sons’ (WLY) “Hold (C)” Rating Reiterated at Weiss Ratings

Weiss Ratings reaffirmed their hold (c) rating on shares of John Wiley & Sons (NYSE:WLY) in a report released on Tuesday morning,Weiss Ratings reports.

Separately, Wall Street Zen downgraded John Wiley & Sons from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

John Wiley & Sons Stock Down 1.5%

NYSE WLY opened at $36.84 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $39.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $40.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. John Wiley & Sons has a 52 week low of $35.94 and a 52 week high of $53.96. The company has a market capitalization of $1.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.70 and a beta of 1.03.

John Wiley & Sons (NYSE:WLY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 28th. The company reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter. John Wiley & Sons had a return on equity of 27.31% and a net margin of 5.82%.The firm had revenue of $533.00 million for the quarter. On average, equities research analysts predict that John Wiley & Sons will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current year.

John Wiley & Sons Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 23rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.355 per share. This represents a $1.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 7th. John Wiley & Sons’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 79.78%.

John Wiley & Sons declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, June 26th that permits the company to buyback $250.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to buy up to 10.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On John Wiley & Sons

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WLY. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd grew its holdings in John Wiley & Sons by 323.5% during the 2nd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 528,088 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,569,000 after buying an additional 403,389 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in John Wiley & Sons by 192.5% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 594,815 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,547,000 after buying an additional 391,428 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in John Wiley & Sons during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $10,755,000. Marshall Wace LLP grew its holdings in John Wiley & Sons by 300.6% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 233,682 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,429,000 after buying an additional 175,350 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its holdings in John Wiley & Sons by 169.8% during the 1st quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 277,052 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,345,000 after buying an additional 174,367 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.