John Wiley & Sons (NYSE:WLY) Sets New 1-Year Low – Here’s What Happened

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on WLY shares. Wall Street Zen cut John Wiley & Sons from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 6th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of John Wiley & Sons in a research note on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

John Wiley & Sons Trading Down 4.4%

The company’s fifty day moving average price is $38.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $40.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The company has a market cap of $1.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.95 and a beta of 1.03.

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

John Wiley & Sons Announces Dividend

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

John Wiley & Sons announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, September 25th that permits the company to buyback $250.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to buy up to 11.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in John Wiley & Sons by 16.7% during the third quarter. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,207,824 shares of the company’s stock worth $89,351,000 after buying an additional 315,329 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of John Wiley & Sons by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,714,430 shares of the company’s stock worth $76,515,000 after acquiring an additional 34,782 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its position in shares of John Wiley & Sons by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 1,573,330 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,673,000 after acquiring an additional 19,067 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of John Wiley & Sons by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,557,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,041,000 after acquiring an additional 55,155 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Capital Management LLC increased its stake in John Wiley & Sons by 71.1% in the third quarter. SG Capital Management LLC now owns 1,474,796 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,685,000 after acquiring an additional 612,866 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.94% of the company’s stock.

About John Wiley & Sons

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.