John Wiley & Sons (WLYB) versus Its Peers Critical Comparison

John Wiley & Sons (NYSE:WLYB) is one of 259 publicly-traded companies in the “Media” industry, but how does it compare to its peers? We will compare John Wiley & Sons to related businesses based on the strength of its risk, analyst recommendations, earnings, institutional ownership, valuation, profitability and dividends.

Dividends

John Wiley & Sons pays an annual dividend of $1.43 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.7%. John Wiley & Sons pays out 33.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Media” companies pay a dividend yield of 5.2% and pay out 109.9% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. John Wiley & Sons has raised its dividend for 26 consecutive years.

Profitability

This table compares John Wiley & Sons and its peers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
John Wiley & Sons	13.22%	29.01%	8.78%
John Wiley & Sons Competitors	-19.62%	-47.91%	-4.99%

Risk and Volatility

John Wiley & Sons has a beta of 0.54, indicating that its stock price is 46% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, John Wiley & Sons’ peers have a beta of 1.02, indicating that their average stock price is 2% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and price targets for John Wiley & Sons and its peers, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
John Wiley & Sons	0	1	0	0	2.00
John Wiley & Sons Competitors	2217	6835	10802	471	2.47

As a group, “Media” companies have a potential upside of 19.03%. Given John Wiley & Sons’ peers stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe John Wiley & Sons has less favorable growth aspects than its peers.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares John Wiley & Sons and its peers top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
John Wiley & Sons	$1.68 billion	$221.62 million	12.57
John Wiley & Sons Competitors	$3.19 billion	-$23.63 million	18.13

John Wiley & Sons’ peers have higher revenue, but lower earnings than John Wiley & Sons. John Wiley & Sons is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its peers, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

0.5% of John Wiley & Sons shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 38.7% of shares of all “Media” companies are owned by institutional investors. 29.7% of John Wiley & Sons shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 18.3% of shares of all “Media” companies are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

John Wiley & Sons peers beat John Wiley & Sons on 9 of the 15 factors compared.

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. The Held for Sale or Sold segment offers businesses held-for-sale including Wiley Edge and CrossKnowledge, University Services and Tuition Manager, and Test Prep and Advancement Courses. The company was founded by Charles Wiley in 1807 and is headquartered in Hoboken, NJ.