John Wiley & Sons (NYSE:WLY) Shares Gap Down – Should You Sell?

Shares of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (NYSE:WLY) gapped down before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $51.05, but opened at $48.84. John Wiley & Sons shares last traded at $54.0620, with a volume of 161,877 shares changing hands.

John Wiley & Sons News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting John Wiley & Sons this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Wiley reported fiscal first-quarter adjusted EPS of $0.44, above the $0.40 analyst consensus, while revenue of $386.4 million also exceeded estimates of $380.2 million. The earnings beat helped initially support the stock. John Wiley & Sons Beats Q1 Earnings and Revenue Estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Management reaffirmed its full-year outlook and provided fiscal 2027 EPS guidance of $4.60 to $5.05, compared with the $4.80 consensus estimate. The midpoint is broadly in line with expectations, reducing the risk of a near-term guidance cut. Wiley Reports First Quarter 2027 Results
• Neutral Sentiment: Management characterized first-quarter results as in line with expectations and maintained its full-year outlook, suggesting the quarter did not materially change the company’s broader operating plan. John Wiley Q1 2027 Earnings Call Transcript
• Negative Sentiment: GAAP diluted EPS was a loss of $0.23, compared with earnings of $0.22 a year earlier, largely because of restructuring charges. Revenue declined approximately 3% year over year to $386 million, operating income fell to $3 million from $31 million, and adjusted EPS also declined from $0.49. These trends overshadowed the adjusted quarterly beat. Wiley Turns to Q1 Loss, Revenue Declines

Analyst Ratings Changes

WLY has been the subject of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings raised shares of John Wiley & Sons from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Zacks Research downgraded John Wiley & Sons from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, John Wiley & Sons has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”.

John Wiley & Sons Stock Performance

The stock’s fifty day moving average is $51.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $43.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.71 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.64.

John Wiley & Sons (NYSE:WLY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 3rd. The company reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $386.36 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $380.20 million. John Wiley & Sons had a net margin of 11.90% and a return on equity of 27.99%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.49 EPS. John Wiley & Sons has set its FY 2027 guidance at 4.600-5.050 EPS. Analysts forecast that John Wiley & Sons, Inc. will post 4.8 earnings per share for the current year.

John Wiley & Sons Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 23rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 7th were issued a $0.3575 dividend. This is an increase from John Wiley & Sons’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. This represents a $1.43 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 7th. John Wiley & Sons’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.81%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On John Wiley & Sons

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of John Wiley & Sons by 3,580.2% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 2,060,802 shares of the company’s stock valued at $99,970,000 after buying an additional 2,004,805 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can bought a new stake in shares of John Wiley & Sons in the fourth quarter worth $13,526,000. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in John Wiley & Sons by 18.6% in the fourth quarter. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,617,945 shares of the company’s stock valued at $80,188,000 after acquiring an additional 410,121 shares in the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd boosted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 403,389 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in John Wiley & Sons during the 4th quarter valued at $12,273,000. 73.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

John Wiley & Sons Company Profile

John Wiley & Sons, Inc is a global publishing and educational services company founded in 1807 and headquartered in Hoboken, New Jersey. The company operates through two primary segments: Research & Publishing and Education. Through these segments, Wiley produces a wide range of scholarly journals, books, reference works and digital products for academic, scientific, technical and medical markets, as well as professional development and higher education learning resources.

In its Research & Publishing segment, Wiley publishes thousands of peer-reviewed journals and maintains the Wiley Online Library, a leading platform for scientific and scholarly content.